The Recipe: Chocolate Rudolph Cupcakes

Ingredients

200g butter cubed
200g plain chocolate, broken into squares
200g light soft brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
250g self-raising flour

For the icing

200g plain chocolate, broken into squares
100ml double cream
50g icing sugar

For the reindeers

12 large milk chocolate buttons
24 white chocolate buttons
12 red Smarties
Black icing pens
Mini pretzels cut in half horizontally

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C or 140C fan. Gas 3.
2. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
3. Gently melt the butter, chocolate, sugar and 100ml hot water together in a large saucepan, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool a little while you weigh the other ingredients.
4. Stir the eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture.
5. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and stir in the chocolate mixture until smooth.
6. Spoon into the cases until just over three-quarters full. Bake on a low shelf in the oven for 20-22 minutes.
7. Leave to cool.
8. To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
9. Once melted, turn off the heat, stir in the double cream, sift in the icing sugar and mix well.
10. Spread the top of each cake with some of the icing.
11. Position a milk chocolate button on top of each cake, then 2 white chocolate buttons above it. Use a little icing as glue to stick a red Smartie onto the milk chocolate button for a nose. Then use your icing pens to draw black dots on the white buttons for eyes.
12. Stick 2 pretzel top halves into the top of each cake for antlers and stick the bottom half of a pretzel under the Smartie for a mouth.