Mini Chocolate Raisin Cupcakes

Well now that I have got my kitchen setup in my new house I have been able to get back into doing some baking. I came across this recipe in one of my favourite receipe books "Kitchen" by Women's Weekly, one sunday night while i was searching for something nice to cook my hubby for morning tea's for that week. This is chocolate cake mixture is different to the norm which i think makes it so nice. I love the fact that the raisins are boiled first to puff them up to become nicely plump and juicy first before adding them into the cake batter. The addition of cinnamon (& cloves if you choose to add it) gives it a nice spicy undertone to the cake. The cake normally is cooked in a square cake tin, which i did but i kept some mixture aside to create these mini cupcakes.

Boiled Raisin Chocolate Cake

 Ingredients:
2 Cups Raisins
2 Cups Water
1 Teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 Tsp Ground Clove (Optional)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
250g Butter
1 ½ Cups Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
1 ½ Cup Plain Flour
1 Cup Self Raising Flour

Chocolate Glaze
200g Dark Chocolate
100g Butter

Method:
1.    Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease square or round cake tin.
2.    Combine raisins and the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 min. Remove from heat; stir in sifted soda and cocoa and then spices and vanilla extract. Cool to room temperature.
3.    Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined between additions; stir in sifted flours and raisin mixture in two batches.
4.    Spread mixture into pan; bake for about 1 hour 10 min. Stand cake for 5 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool.
5.    Chocolate Glaze: place butter and chocolate in a microwave bowl.  Cook for 30 seconds at a time until mixture is smooth. Pour over cake; stand for 30 min before serving.

 *If you have a slight aversion to raisins/sultana's I would suggest using chocolate chips instead and in step 2 just add 2 cups of boiling water in a bowl with the bicarb and spices and extract. Add choc chips in step 3.

Simply Tea Recommendations:
 The perfect cup of tea to accompany these delicious cupcakes would be something to compliment the spices that have been added into the cake so our Chai : A strong base of India teas, blended with rich warm spices; cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger - would be a definate winner. If your not a fan of chai I would probably suggest a nice black tea such as our Prince of Wales: A light tea with a superb flavour and delicate aroma, making this a great blend for afternoon tea. - would also be a great tea to have with these cupcakes. 

There is nothing more perfect on a winter's afternoon to sit down with your feet up with a nice warm comforting cup of tea and one of these cupcakes to savour a few blissful moments of sheer relaxation.


Happy Sipping

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