This is sooo easy and yummy...
It's dawning on me lately that the pages in my recipe binder that were my favourites back in my housewifing days are getting awful dusty. When did I become such a true-to-form bachelorette?
...Most days lately I just can't even be bothered eating defined meals. Just gnaw on a piece of plain bread or roast a single random potato and eat it whole straight off the end of a fork.
However. This little beauty is a time-tested overlap that has served me well through varying seasons.
-Great for family people with unexpected visitors because you can whip them up so quickly.
-Great spontaneous treat for kiddies when there's nothing else to give them. Great for helping / letting kiddies cook because it doesn't require extended commitment of attention span and is relatively safe.
-Great if you're going out and need to take a contribution, great if you're staying in and need some comfort.
-Great for singles wanting dessert but not really wanting to cook.
-Great if you're rich and want to get creative with extra fancy ingredients like chocolate chips, fudge, honeycomb, nuts, nougat etc...
-Great if you're poor with a cupboard stocked with basics, or even just things you can use to improvise.
Great great great. Did I mention I think this recipe is great?
When you've made it enough times you start to get a feel for the basic texture of a cake batter and you develop improvisation skills that open up a whole new world of spontaneous creations... maybe I'll post some of those sometime too, if I can figure out how to get them in written form.
Anyways, now that I've talked it up so much that I'm bound to disappoint, here it is:
-60g butter
-1/4 cup castor sugar
-1 tbsp cocoa (I use way more than this, I like it dark and rich. Just remember to balance cocoa with sugar since it is not sweet, and find the richness you like).
-1 egg, beaten (Pft, who ever pre- beats the egg when the recipe says to?, Lol).
-1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
1.) Melt butter in a large microwave safe bowl on HIGH (100% power) for 30 seconds. Or however long it takes to melt the butter. I like to microwave butter on a defrost setting to prevent splattering, but it takes longer. Be aware that adding egg to butter that is too hot will cook the egg. You don't want that. Add the sugar and cocoa. Mix well to dissolve any lumps.
2.) Add the egg and flour, and stir through with a fork. Spoon the mixture evenly between 8 triple thickness patty pans. Moving weak patty cases full of loose mixture is tricky and they will also collapse somewhat in the microwave and make for some funny shaped cupcakes without the added strength of extra layers. So use 3 inside each other for each cupcake. Don't use foil cases as these are not safe to use in the microwave! Place around the outside edge of the microwave turntable and cook on HIGH for one minute. At this point top of cupcakes will still look gooey.
3.) Place a whole marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Cook on HIGH for 30 seconds. Important tip: Either use really big cases so that there is plenty of room between the top of the case and the cupcake even after it's risen (so that the marshmallow can do whatever it likes without making a fuss) or, you'll need to WATCH the final 30 seconds and intervene at regular intervals. I know it's hard work for an "easy" recipe but hang in there. It's only 30 seconds, Lol. The marshmallows may begin to slide off one side and you may need to open the microwave door a few times and gently nudge them back to the centre before continuing to melt them.
I use Pascal Marshmallows because apart from being the yummiest, the powdery stuff on the outside that stays on top in one spot gives a good point of contact for guiding marshmallows as they melt without complicating things and getting your fingers all sticky. The marshmallows should spread over the whole cupcake to form icing. If it doesn't, gently give it a little squish from the top so that it does.
Allow to cool slightly. Or, if you can wait this long or don't want them immediately, put them in the fridge for a while or overnight. They are a yummy, chewy-gooey brownie kind of texture when they're cold.
There are soooo many places to go with this that I'd be up all night if I got started right now. But I will throw in a little something for the Aussies... sprinkle a little Milo over the marshmallows before melting them. Mmmmmmm. I guess the rest of you could use chocolate drinking power. Which'd be nice. But just not the same.
Enjoy!
Love
It's dawning on me lately that the pages in my recipe binder that were my favourites back in my housewifing days are getting awful dusty. When did I become such a true-to-form bachelorette?
...Most days lately I just can't even be bothered eating defined meals. Just gnaw on a piece of plain bread or roast a single random potato and eat it whole straight off the end of a fork.
However. This little beauty is a time-tested overlap that has served me well through varying seasons.
-Great for family people with unexpected visitors because you can whip them up so quickly.
-Great spontaneous treat for kiddies when there's nothing else to give them. Great for helping / letting kiddies cook because it doesn't require extended commitment of attention span and is relatively safe.
-Great if you're going out and need to take a contribution, great if you're staying in and need some comfort.
-Great for singles wanting dessert but not really wanting to cook.
-Great if you're rich and want to get creative with extra fancy ingredients like chocolate chips, fudge, honeycomb, nuts, nougat etc...
-Great if you're poor with a cupboard stocked with basics, or even just things you can use to improvise.
Great great great. Did I mention I think this recipe is great?
When you've made it enough times you start to get a feel for the basic texture of a cake batter and you develop improvisation skills that open up a whole new world of spontaneous creations... maybe I'll post some of those sometime too, if I can figure out how to get them in written form.
Anyways, now that I've talked it up so much that I'm bound to disappoint, here it is:
-60g butter
-1/4 cup castor sugar
-1 tbsp cocoa (I use way more than this, I like it dark and rich. Just remember to balance cocoa with sugar since it is not sweet, and find the richness you like).
-1 egg, beaten (Pft, who ever pre- beats the egg when the recipe says to?, Lol).
-1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
1.) Melt butter in a large microwave safe bowl on HIGH (100% power) for 30 seconds. Or however long it takes to melt the butter. I like to microwave butter on a defrost setting to prevent splattering, but it takes longer. Be aware that adding egg to butter that is too hot will cook the egg. You don't want that. Add the sugar and cocoa. Mix well to dissolve any lumps.
2.) Add the egg and flour, and stir through with a fork. Spoon the mixture evenly between 8 triple thickness patty pans. Moving weak patty cases full of loose mixture is tricky and they will also collapse somewhat in the microwave and make for some funny shaped cupcakes without the added strength of extra layers. So use 3 inside each other for each cupcake. Don't use foil cases as these are not safe to use in the microwave! Place around the outside edge of the microwave turntable and cook on HIGH for one minute. At this point top of cupcakes will still look gooey.
3.) Place a whole marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Cook on HIGH for 30 seconds. Important tip: Either use really big cases so that there is plenty of room between the top of the case and the cupcake even after it's risen (so that the marshmallow can do whatever it likes without making a fuss) or, you'll need to WATCH the final 30 seconds and intervene at regular intervals. I know it's hard work for an "easy" recipe but hang in there. It's only 30 seconds, Lol. The marshmallows may begin to slide off one side and you may need to open the microwave door a few times and gently nudge them back to the centre before continuing to melt them.
I use Pascal Marshmallows because apart from being the yummiest, the powdery stuff on the outside that stays on top in one spot gives a good point of contact for guiding marshmallows as they melt without complicating things and getting your fingers all sticky. The marshmallows should spread over the whole cupcake to form icing. If it doesn't, gently give it a little squish from the top so that it does.
Allow to cool slightly. Or, if you can wait this long or don't want them immediately, put them in the fridge for a while or overnight. They are a yummy, chewy-gooey brownie kind of texture when they're cold.
There are soooo many places to go with this that I'd be up all night if I got started right now. But I will throw in a little something for the Aussies... sprinkle a little Milo over the marshmallows before melting them. Mmmmmmm. I guess the rest of you could use chocolate drinking power. Which'd be nice. But just not the same.
Enjoy!
Love
