Maltesers Cupcakes

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made two lots of cakes this week.  Coconut is a rather divisive subject in my family; much like marzipan, carrots and those little green gherkins in McDonald’s burgers, everyone has strong views on it.  In order to please everyone, I decided to give them two options.  I had been itching to try the coconut cakes, but I didn’t want the poor, deluded coconut haters to feel neglected.  With this in mind, I decided to take something tasty – the classic chocolate cupcake – and mix it with another treat; the long-term snack-time favourites that are the mighty Maltesers

In truth, I was in a bit of puzzle over which flavour base would fully show off that taste which is unique to Maltesers.  I initially thought of vanilla, which would give them a chance to show off their chocolate malty flavour, but in the end I decided that the only flavour which can truly support chocolate is chocolate.  With this in mind, I used the Hummingbird bakery’s Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes recipe to create the chocolate base, but instead of adding Nutella to the middle, I blended about 110g of Maltesers until they were roughly the size of chocolate chips and folded them in just before spooning the mixture into cases.  I also mixed half a teaspoon of vanilla essence with the milk, just for a bit of extra Maltesers flavour.

The results were interesting.  I was imagining crunchy little lumps of Maltesers.  In reality, the chocolate and malt melted in the mixture.  While this was not quite what I was aiming for, it did give them quite a unique taste.  The icing, again from the every trustworthy Hummingbird bakery, was just more chocolate, which my inner child tells me can only be a good thing.  Next time I would probably add a white chocolate swirl to the top of the icing, just for a contrast, but I think these successfully promise the Maltesers feast they were created to be.  

Don't like coconut?  It's not your fault.  These chocolate treats will unite both nutters and notters; just don't let us eat them all.