A little dessert never hurt no one...

Hello lovely readers! Everyone knows the classic Sticky Toffee Pudding but did you ever imagine it in cupcake form!? Neither did we until we discovered it on Great British Chefs website. This seems like an extremely lengthy post but the method isn't as tricky as it seems and is ttooottaaallllyyy worth it! Have we ever been wrong before...the correct answer is no.

Remember our first Instagram post?

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes
Ingredients
400g dates (stoned)
2 mugs of fairly weak black tea
200g light muscovado sugar
50g dark muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
4 eggs
200g unsalted butter (melted)
3 teaspoons of mixed spice
Splash of vanilla extract
350g self raising flour
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Roughly chop dates and add to pan with tea. Simmer gently for a few minutes, then blitz until a smooth paste in blender. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and syrup until combined, gradually add melted butter. Stir in date paste and vanilla and mix well. Fold in all the dry ingredients and spoon into your cupcake cases. Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Whilst these are cooking, make the toffee sauce as below. Once the cakes are out the oven, prick each with a fork and pour a little sauce over each cupcake.

Sticky Toffee Sauce
Ingredients
100g light muscovado sugar
50g dark muscovado sugar
30g butter
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
Splash of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
125ml condensed milk

Method
To a pan add both sugars, butter, syrup, vanilla and salt. Melt together until combined and bring to a gentle boil. Take off heat then stir in the condensed milk. Half is to be drizzled onto the hot cakes and the other is left to cool to flavour the buttercream.

Buttercream
Ingredients 
200g unsalted butter (softened)
400g icing sugar
Half the cold Sticky Toffee Sauce (see recipe above)

Method
Whisk butter until light then slowly add icing sugar until combined. Add the rest of the cooled toffee sauce, keeping a little aside to drizzle on top as decoration, and whisk in. Layer generously on top of cupcakes and drizzle with remaining sauce. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks
No blender on hand? No need to blend the dates and tea, it will still taste great just with a different consistency.
Buttercream too stiff? Add a little milk
No dark muscovado sugar? Its only for added colour so isn't essential. Just add 50g more of light muscovado sugar.

Makes approximately 20 cupcakes however we created a large sandwich cake with this recipe as we were celebrating another birthday (we just can't get enough of them!). We made these awhile ago however after finishing this blog post we may do some midnight baking, although thats nothing out of the ordinary for us Cup & Tail Girls. We know you'll enjoy them as much as we do. Recipe was originally found here.

Happy 20th Divya (housemate and Cup & Tail girl to be)!

Love the Cup & Tail Girls 

xxxx