mint (choc chip) frosting

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter at room temperature
300g sifted icing sugar
couple of drops of peppermint extract
Couple of tbsps milk
50g dark chocolate, chopped (optional)

1. With an electric whisk, beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy.
2. Bit by bit beat in the icing sugar until it is thoroughly combined.
3. Add the peppermint essence and beat in.
4. If needed beat in a little milk to make the consistency a little smoother. 
5. Stir through the chopped dark chocolate if using. Chill the frosting for at least 20 minutes before using.

rum mini cupcakes with praline amaretto frosting

A grown up, sweet treat that is perfect in this smaller size. The cakes are great with or without the frosting. If you choose not to frost the cakes they would be wonderful as a dessert covered in extra, warm rum syrup and a dollop of good quality vanilla ice cream. Yum...

You can use any standard plain cake batter as your starting point. This is my usual version from Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet. I find it is sturdy enough to stand up to the gooey syrup. If you can, use a silicone cake mould to make the cakes - it helps when you come to pour the syrup over them cakes. You can use paper cases in a standard tin but it just ends up being a bit more messy.

Ingredients
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Rum Syrup

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup dark rum

1 quantity of praline and amaretto frosting.

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas 4 and place 12 cases in to your tin if using. I used a silicone mini cake tray that you can see in the pictures below. In the picture below I had only made a small quantity of the mixture so didn't fill the whole tray.
2. Beat the butter, sugar and eggs together until they are light and fluffy and well combined. This will take around 3 minutes with an electric whisk.
3. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and beat the mixture again until it is thoroughly mixed together.
4. Spoon the mixture into the your cake cases or moulds. 
5. Bake in the oven for around 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out of the mixture clean.
6. While the cakes are in the oven prepare the syrup by gently heating the rum and sugar in a thick based saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved.
7. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cook slightly, around 5 minutes or so, then if you are going to frost them, pour over the rum syrup while the cakes are still in the tray then leave to cool completely. (If you are serving them as a dessert remove from the tray before pouring over the syrup and cover in syrup once they are on your serving plate.)
8. Once the cakes have cooled completely you can pop them out of the silicone mould and frost.

salted caramel frosting

Ingredients

100g butter, at room temperature

200g icing sugar, sieved

1-2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 tbsp tinned caramel
1 tsp salt

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.
2. Gradually add the sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth and creamy.
3. Add the caramel, salt and vanilla and mix thoroughly
4. Finally add the milk bit by bit until you have your desired consistency.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

chocolate malt frosting

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

200g icing sugar, sieved

1-2 tbsp milk

50g plain chocolate, melted

2 tbsp ovaltine or other malted drink powder

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.
2. Gradually add the sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth and creamy.
3. Add the chocolate and ovaltine and mix thoroughly.
4. Finally add the milk bit by bit until you have your desired consistency.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

lemon poppy seed cupcakes

This is a classic combination of flavours with a hidden surprise. If you are feeling the need to be a little more healthy they are equally delicious with or without frosting. If poppy seeds aren't your thing you can leave them out if you really must.

The cake batter recipe is based on Dan Lepard's Sour Cream Butter Cake in his book Short and Sweet but has been adapted quite a lot.

Ingredients
175g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
200g sour cream (I used 0% fat greek yogurt and it still worked perfectly well)
200g plain flour
3tsp baking powder
Zest of a lemon
1 tsp lemon extract
10g poppy seeds (optional)
Lemon curd (approx 4 tbsps)

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas 4 and place 12 muffin cases in the tray.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the eggs in one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
3. Beat in the sour cream or yogurt then add the lemon zest, extract and poppy seeds.
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and beat in until all the mixture is combined.
5. Next place a spoonful of the batter into each case, it should come about a third of the way up the case.
6. Smooth the batter out so that the bottom of the base is completely covered. Now place a teaspoon of lemon curd in the centre of each case.
7. Add a couple of more spoons of batter to each case so that they are full almost to the top but not quite.
8. Place in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.
9. Allow the cupcakes to cook completely before frosting then decorate however you choose. I opted for a simple mascarpone frosting with a little more lemon rind to continue the zingy flavour throughout.