Christmas Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Meringue Toffee Frosting Recipe

These cupcakes are a great little treat. They keep well in the fridge and make excellent thank you gifts at this time of year. Our little miss took some to her swimming teachers, some to riding school on the last day, and some to Santa at Ballantynes. The toffee frosting is a lovely light alternative to buttercream. We added strawberries and blueberries to give them a nice cheerful Christmas theme. The cupcakes can easily be made gluten free by using Bakels gluten free flour instead of wheaten flour. 

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Meringue Toffee Frosting. 

1/2 cup vegetable oil
250ml cream
50ml espresso
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 and 3/4 cups flour


Preheat the oven to 160 deg. C. Put out 35 small, free-standing cupcake cases onto a baking tray.

Sift the flour and cocoa together and set aside. 
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, cream, espresso, boiling water, vanilla essence, lightly beaten eggs, brown sugar, salt, and lastly the baking soda. 



Add the flour to the liquid and gradually whisk the mixture to combine it. 

Place the mixture into a jug to make it easier to pour into the cupcake cases.








The cupcakes rise quite a lot, so only half fill each case with mixture.  











Bake for 25 minutes until well risen. The tops should bounce back when pressed. Allow to cool completely before decorating with the toffee frosting.  

Meringue Toffee Frosting

175g granulated sugar

1 tablepoon liquid glucose

40ml water

3 egg whites. 

Separate the eggs. Reserve the egg yolks for another recipe. Beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Not so much as the whites start to look dry, just stiff enough to stand up when the beater head is raised out of the mixture. 

Put the sugar, glucose and water into a small pot over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and boil until the toffee reaches 145deg. C on the sweet thermometer or until it's a light brown colour. 

With the beater running, dribble the toffee into the beaten egg whites a little at a time. The egg whites will start to look glossy, then turn a nice thick toffee colour. Be very careful with the hot toffee! 

Working quickly before the frosting sets, use a piping bag and star nozzle to pipe rosettes onto each cupcake. If you don't have a bag and nozzle, just use a knife to spread a generous amount onto each one. 

Top each cupcake with a quarter of strawberry and a couple of blueberries. Any summer fruit will do. 

Store the frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge. 

I got a super cute and practical cupcake holder box from a $2 store in the mall - definitely worth getting for easy transportation.  

Happy baking everyone, and a very merry holiday season to you all xxx 

Holiday Season Baking - Chocolate Apricot Truffles

Here is the other half of our Christmas gifting to our Little Blossom's Riding teachers. These delicious Chocolate Truffles have featured on here before with cranberries. This time around I've gone for the classic dried apricot addition. 

Chocolate Apricot Truffles

1 cup icing sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
250g sweet biscuit crumbs - I used wine biscuits and crushed them in the food processor
175g butter
125g dark chocolate - I used Whittakers 72% Dark Ghana
half a cup of New Zealand dried apricots

For the chocolate coating you will need an extra 375g dark chocolate - I used the slightly sweeter 50% cocoa Dark Block - and 
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine the icing sugar, cocoa and crushed biscuit crumbs in a bowl. 

In another bowl melt the chocolate and butter together. I do this by giving it short 10 second bursts in the microwave and stirring well in between. Do this a couple of times until half the chocolate has melted, then just stir until the remaining chocolate is smooth. 




Stir the melted mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. 

Slice the apricots into small squares and stir into the mixture.










Take spoonfuls, roll into balls and place on a tray or plate ready for chilling. 











While the truffles chill in the fridge, melt the extra chocolate and stir in the oil. Be very careful not to overheat!

Using a large fork, dip each truffle into the melted chocolate, tap off the excess and place on a lined tray. Do not refrigerate or the chocolate will dull. 






Leave them at room temperature to set before either packaging in cellophane or placing in an airtight container. 

These truffles also keep well and are perfect for keeping on standby for Christmas time guests.

All packaged and ready to be gifted. Happy festive baking xx

Are you dreaming of a (gluten free) White Christmas?

Here's an old Christmas favourite that is super easy to make, stores well, and can be whipped out in a moments notice when unexpected guests arrive. It also makes an excellent little home-made gift. Nothing says thank you like the time spent making a home baked gift.

Our Little Miss gave the White Christmas, some Chocolate Apricot Truffles and a few little gifts to all the lovely teachers and staff at Riding school. 

White Christmas Slice

1.5 cups rice bubbles - I used gluten free
1 cup whole milk powder
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup desiccated long thread coconut
half a cup red glace cherries
half a cup green glace cherries
half a cup dried cranberries
250g white vegetable shortening - I used Kremelta brand

Line a shallow 25 x 18cm - or similar size - slice tin with baking paper.

Put the rice bubbles, milk powder, icing sugar, coconut, chopped cherries and cranberries. 

Either in the microwave, or over a double boiler, gently melt the vegetable fat. Be very careful not to over heat it. A couple of 10 second bursts in the microwave followed by stirring until the last lumps melt is the ideal method. 

Stir the melted fat into the dry ingredients and fruit. 

Press the mixture into the lined tin, cover and place in the fridge until set. Allow it to come up to room temperature before cutting into petite squares. 

I packaged ours in cellophane bags ready to be parceled up with the other gifts. I used cute stickers to seal the bags. 

Christmas nibbles - Biscotti

This is a super easy recipe that is great to have on-hand during the holiday season. Its sweet, crispy, fruity and chewy all at once. Pop some into a cellophane bag, add a ribbon and there's a cute little gift that has hand-made love all over it. You can substitute any fruit combo you happen to have in the cupboard, and I have made a non- nut version by just adding more fruit. It can also be very successfully made using gluten-free flour.

Christmas Biscotti 


3 egg whites
a pinch of cream of tartar
100g caster sugar
130g whole peeled almonds
50g walnuts
70g glace cherries 
100g whole cranberries
50g dried apricots - roughly sliced 
50g preserved ginger - roughly sliced
the zest of 1 orange
90g flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180deg. C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Beat the egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the caster sugar to the beaten whites a tablespoon at a time, beating well in between each addition. 

Fold in the fruit, nuts, orange zest and vanilla. 

Wash and dry the glaced cherries before adding them, as otherwise the syrup will stain the mixture. 

Lastly, gently fold in the sifted flour. 

Place the mixture into the lined baking dish. 

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly golden and cooked through. 

Don't worry about drying it out as it's going to be toasted anyway! 

Once cooked set aside to cool completely. 

Using a bread knife, cut the loaf into thin slices and place them onto a lined baking sheet. 











Bake at 120deg. C until crispy throughout. 

Keep checking them every 10 to 15 minutes as you don't want them to brown!

The biscotti will keep in an airtight container for a couple of weeks. Your visitors will be super impressed with these colourful, fruity treats. 

Happy Holidays! 

Home Made Gifts - Christmas Mince Pie Recipe

My desk really did look this cluttered last week. Not sure how we all manage to squeeze quite so much into the last week of term. Despite the frenzy, I still made the time to make some of these super tasty Christmas mince pies for the great ladies of my faculty. 

This year I varied the recipe for the fruit mince a little by substituting cranberries and crystallised ginger for most of the sultanas. I've been making these for years and couldn't tell you where the recipe originally came from. The fruit mince keeps for weeks in the fridge, so you can have some on standby all through the Christmas season. We also made a little batch today for Little Miss to take to Santa.

Christmas Mince Pies

For the filling:

Rind of 1 lemon
Rind of 1 orange
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large tart apples
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sultanas
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup crystallised ginger
1/2 cup glace cherries
1/2 cup currents
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup brandy

Peel the rind from the orange and lemon with a potato peeler. Place in a large food processor with the sugar and process until the rind is finely chopped. 

Add the unpeeled apples cut into chunks and lemon juice, the sultanas, ginger, and half the cranberries and raisins. 

Process this first lot of ingredients until finely chopped. 

Finally add the remaining fruit and the spices and flavourings. Pulse briefly to combine. The final lot of fruit should retain most of its shape. 

Place the fruit mince into a large airtight jar and store in the refrigerator until your ready to use. 



Make the pastry: If time is short you can use store bought, ready rolled sweet pastry. 

Make a sweet pastry by creaming together 125g of butter with 125g caster sugar. Beat in 1 egg, then fold in 1 1/2 cups of sifted flour with 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
The pastry is very soft and delicate and needs to be wrapped and firming up in the fridge before it can be used. The pastry will keep on hand, quite happily, in the fridge for a few days, and can be frozen for longer storage. 

To make the pies:

Preheat the oven to 180deg. C. 

Roll out the pastry between two floured sheets of plastic food wrap. Cut into circles using a fluted cutter. Place the circles of pastry into a shallow tartlet tin. 

Place teaspoon lots of the fruit mince into each tart. 





Top each one with a star pastry cut out, or any similar shape you might prefer. 

Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown. 

Leave to rest in the tin for a few minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack. 

Dust with icing sugar before serving. I always keep a supply of cellophane bags handy for packaging up home made gifts. Little Miss was super excited to be visiting Santa today. She thought he might need a cup of tea and a Christmas Mince Pie after his busy day at Ballantynes.  

Coffee, Walnut and Cinnamon Creams

With the first day of December tomorrow, I've been feeling a little festive. Not so much that I might get carried away and go shopping; just enough to make some spicy, indulgent little cookies for tomorrow's work meeting.
This recipe is based on a coffee biscuit my mother often makes. I've just added some Christmas spice in the form of a little cinnamon. Nothing like a little treat to sweeten up a Monday morning.

Coffee, Walnut and Cinnamon Creams

140g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons very strong espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 extra beaten egg for glazing

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, at room temperature, and beat until well combined. 

Next add the coffee and vanilla essence. 

Fold in the sifted flour, cinnamon and baking powder. 

Wrap the mixture in plastic baking film and chill for about 20 minutes. 

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 180deg. C.

Take from the fridge and place between two sheets of plastic wrap. 

Roll out until the mixture is about half a centimetre thick. 

Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, then using a cookie cutter, stamp out a row of biscuits. 

Transfer them to a lined tray by removing the surrounding mixture, then lifting the bottom layer of plastic and peeling off the biscuit shapes before placing them onto the waiting tray. 

Gather up all the scraps and re-roll and repeat the biscuit cutting until all the mixture is used. 

Using a pastry brush, glaze the top of the uncooked biscuits with the extra beaten egg.














Sprinkle on the chopped walnuts and bake for 10 minutes. 











While the biscuits are baking prepare the filling: 

Beat together 120g butter, 1 cup icing sugar, 3 tablespoons very strong espresso, and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence until light and fluffy. 

Set aside until the biscuits are completely cooled. 

Place a teaspoon of filling onto half the biscuits and sandwich them together into pairs. 

The recipe makes about 24 depending on the size of the cutter. 

Time to start humming those Christmas Carols....