Jaffa Cake Cupcakes

now, one of my favourite biscuits, well, foods, ever is the mighty jaffa cake! is it a biscuit, or a cake? who knows, who cares! i thought i'd try my hand at creating a cake that tastes like a jaffa cake, but is actually a cake. a moist, orangey sponge with a dark, glossy ganache on top? YES PLEASE!

its still quite a basic cake mix, but makes a magical cake. i used clementines here because i think they taste nice and sweet, and the zest is very fragrant, and besides, we didn't have any large oranges in the house. i make it a rule to myself that i only ever use real butter in my cakes, i think it tastes nicer, but today we didn't have much butter, so i had to bulk it up a bit with some margarine, and you know what? it didn't taste that bad, i may try it again :)

the batter was still quite lumpy after everything has been mixed in, but it doesn't really matter, you wouldn't be able to tell in the final product anyway. it creates quite a liquidy batter, as you are adding the juice into it, which thins it out.

i made 24 cakes, which was perfect, as the stand holds 23, so thats enough cakes for the stand, and one for me :)

from past experience, i make my ganache with equal parts cream and chocolate, to make a thick, glossy topping for the cakes. i piped it onto the cakes, i haven't piped in months, so forgive me as its a bit sloppy, especially seeing as i am still recovering from being ill. but i think i did an alright job anyway.

i'm really starting to love the cake stand, it adds a certain professional touch to my baking, and it looks pretty, plus, it means i don't muck up the icing piling them on top of each other.

Ingredients;
3 eggs
weight of the eggs in self raising flour
weight of the eggs in caster sugar
weight of the eggs in butter
2 clementines - zest and juice
200g dark chocolate
200ml double cream

cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
miz in alternately, one egg and a thrid of the flour, until theyre all used up
add the zest and juice of the clementines, and then whisk until the batter is light and fluffy
fill the cupcake trays, 2/3 full in each mould
pop in the oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and risen well
warm up the cream in a saucepan, until hot but not boiling
add the chocolate, and stir until melted, leave for about 10 minutes to firm up
pipe onto the cakes using a large star nozzle to create a fancy-dancy swirl

serve after lunch with a mug of tea, and a natter with the mother about life itself. yums