The girls made these Chocolate Orange Blossom cupcakes with mandarins to decorate them. Here's the recipe.
CHOCOLATE ORANGE BLOSSOM & MANDARIN CUPCAKES (makes 12)
INGREDIENTS
125g caster sugar
125g soft margarine
2 medium eggs
125g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Neilsen-Massey Orange Blossom Water
For the decoration
2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
2-4 drops yellow or orange food colouring
1 teaspoon Neilsen-Massey Orange Blossom Water
a touch of tepid water
12 tinned mandarin segments
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Beat the sugar and margarine together. Lara is just beginning to get the hang of this but they both usually need a little bit of help to blend the ingredients fully.
3. Add the Orange Blossom Water and beat in the eggs.
4. Sieve in the baking powder, cocoa powder and plain flour and stir in until everything is combined to a smooth 'batter'.
5. Place into 12 cupcake cases. We use an ice-cream scoop to make it easier for the girls to get the mixture into the silicone cupcake cases without tooooooo much mess!
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until well risen and bouncy but before they start to turn dark on top. Allow to cool fully.
7. While the cakes are cooling, remove 12 mandarin segments from their tin and place them on a piece of kitchen paper to drain fully. If they are wet, they will cause the icing to go runny.
8. Mix the icing sugar with the food colouring and Orange Blossom Water. Add tepid water a drop at a time to make a paste thick enough to drizzle from a spoon.
9. Add a touch of icing to the top of each cake and garnish with a piece of mandarin.
10. Devour in one sitting!
We found the Orange Blossom Water to give the cakes and icing a sweet, yet mature flavour. It reminded me a little of Earl Grey tea and I felt these cakes would be a great summery accompaniment to a lovely pot of tea.
