Chocolate Cupcakes with Gingerbread Gravestones Recipe
Two treats in one, a delicious gingerbread biscuit and a moist, chocolatey espresso cupcake, all delicately sweetened with dark robust maple syrup. These chocolate cupcakes with gingerbread gravestones make perfect little treats for Halloween.
Ingredients
- For chocolate espresso cupcakes
- 210g plain flour
- 45g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 shot of espresso, cooled
- 100ml sunflower oil
- 2 eggs
-
200g Pure Maple Syrup, Dark Robust
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 75g sour cream
- For chocolate icing
- 200g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 385g icing sugar, sifted
- 45g cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- For the gingerbread gravestones
- 350g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 heaped teaspoons ginger
- 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 150g muscovado sugar
-
125g Pure Maple Syrup, Dark Robust
- 1 egg, beaten
- For royal icing
- 240g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
- Gel food colouring, grey
Instructions
-
Begin by making the gingerbread dough. Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and add to the dry mixture. Gently knead until a smooth dough forms. Divide into two discs, wrap in clingfilm, and chill for about 40 minutes.
This recipe makes more than you will need. Freeze surplus dough for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
Make a gravestone template from card, a rounded rectangle measuring 6.5cm x 4.0cm. - Preheat the oven to 180C, fan 160C, gas mark 4. Line a 12 hole muffin tin, ideally with black muffin cases.
- Make the cupcakes. Sift together the dry ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet into the dry and mix with an electric mixer on slow, then medium, until combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the sour cream.
- Fill each cupcake case two thirds full. Bake on the middle shelf for 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
-
Make the chocolate icing. Cream the butter on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the sifted icing sugar and cocoa a little at a time on a low speed. Increase to medium and mix until well combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix for a couple of minutes. Ice the cupcakes once fully cool, then set aside.
You can stop here and continue the next day if you prefer. -
Increase the oven temperature to 190C, fan 170C, gas mark 5. Line a baking tray. Roll out one dough disc on a lightly floured surface to about 4mm thick. Trace the template and cut out 18 gravestones. Space on the tray. Bake for 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Bake extra shapes too if you want crumbs for decoration. - Make the royal icing. Sift the icing sugar and meringue powder into a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of warm water. Mix with an electric mixer on the slowest speed until combined, then on medium for 5 minutes. Keep the icing covered with a damp tea towel when not in use to prevent drying out.
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Prepare icing for lettering and outlining. Take 1/2 cup of white icing and thin it with about 1/4 teaspoon of water, adding a little more only if needed. Put into a small piping bag with a small round nozzle and keep the tip covered when not piping.
Colour the remaining icing grey using a little gel colour at a time. Pipe a thin outline on 12 gravestones and allow to dry for a few minutes. Thin the remaining grey icing slightly with about 1/4 teaspoon of water. Spread it inside the outline with a small rounded knife. Once set firm, add lettering with the thinner white icing. Leave to dry for a couple of hours before assembling.
Wrap leftover icing well and freeze for future projects if needed. - Make bone decorations with the remaining white icing. Pipe bone shapes onto greaseproof paper and allow to set. Carefully lift off once firm.
- Assemble the cupcakes. Cut a slit halfway into the centre of each cupcake and insert a gingerbread gravestone.
- Crush extra baked biscuits into crumbs using a freezer bag and rolling pin. Sprinkle crumbs over the chocolate icing around the gravestone. Add the bone decorations on top. Add extra Halloween decorations if you like.