Fudgy chocolate cupcakes

It's been a month since Christmas and the looming presence of a gigantic bag of sweets is still hanging over us. No matter how much I eat, give away or bake into cakes, the bag just isn't getting any smaller. I believe the bottom is actually an undiscovered void, a tear in the space time continuum leading into an alternative universe containing nothing but candy! I may well alert this to the attention of Stephen Hawking, I'm sure he'd be veeery interested. But, as grand as this may sound, you don't half get sick of curly wurlys and milky ways fast!

In an effort to get rid of a small portion of this never ending confectionery I decided to make some fudgy cupcakes. Not only do I rid myself of that huge hamper of fudge, but I delight some friends in the process. Nobody is more welcome in a home than the person clutching a tin of freshly baked cupcakes. In fact, I had to abandon the tin as everyone refused to let me leave till every last cake was gone. Poor tin.

I adapted a recipe I found on Waitrose.com, I increased the amount of syrup in the cakes and whipped up a simple chocolate icing to mix things up a little.

Fudgy chocolate cupcakes:

100g soft butter
100g light brown soft sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g golden syrup
100g self raising flour, sifted
2 medium eggs, beaten

Chocolate icing:

125g good quality dark chocolate
25g golden syrup
35g unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C. Place paper cake cases in a 12-hole bun tin. Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk or wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes until pale and creamy. Beat in the ginger, vanilla and golden syrup until combined.

Gradually add a little flour and some of the egg, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all the flour and egg has been added. Spoon into the paper cases and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and well risen. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Make the icing just before you are ready to ice the cakes. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (making sure the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water). Once melted stir in the golden syrup and leave to harden slightly, making it easier to work with. Spread the icing over the cakes and decorate with chunks of fudge, or crystallised stem ginger.