Saturday 15 October 2011

Coffee and honey cupcakes

These days I am big on coffee; in whatever form I can possibly find it. It's probably not a very healthy thing to have lots of cups of coffee a day but you can substitute that craving for a coffee cupcake instead. They're really simple to make and they're better than having a cup loaded with caffeine!

MAKES 10 CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

170g wholewheat self raising flour (or white)
1 tablespoon wheatgerm
100ml rapeseed oil (or 100g unsalted butter)
100ml honey (or maple syrup, I find maple syrup gives it a deeper, more caramel-like taste)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh coffee (or 1/2 tablespoon granules, diluted in a little water)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
100g cranberries (optional)
50g pecans, chopped, to decorate (optional)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.

Whisk together the eggs and oil until light and fluffy. Then slowly pour in the honey. Add the vanilla and coffee. Once combined add the self-raising flour, baking powder and wheatgerm and combine until the mixture comes together.

If you are adding the cranberries add now with a wooden spoon.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Cool and serve with vanilla ice cream (and of course, this bit is optional!)

* Wheatgerm is an excellent source of Vitamin E and B vitamins (folic acid in particular), Magnesium, Calcium and Phosphorus.
* High in Vitamin C, Cranberries are an excellent source of antioxidants which are essential to combating free radicals in the body.