Mocha Cupcakes

I am terrible at making decisions. I'm in my penultimate year of university so it's not really the best time to have this as a trait. Having to attempt to trawl through an avalanche of postgrad courses, graduate schemes and job options over the next year is not going to be easy - and that's after I figure out which area I want to work in in the first place.

On the one hand having a psychology degree means I'll be fairly flexible with the kind of work I can do. On the other this just means they'll be even more choices I'll have to decide from. Which isn't something I'm complaining about - better that than to be limited at this stage - but when you're the type of person who gets caught up with excitement for one idea before swiftly moving onto the next it'd be nice if there was a more obvious path to follow.

I'm no better when it comes to the little things in life, such as recently trying to decide on which cupcakes to bake. I didn't want anything with too much chocolate, too much fruit, any kind of flavour that would overpower the cakes. I finally opted for a light, moist chocolate cupcake to satisfy my cocoa cravings, topped with a smooth coffee butter cream for a different dimension of flavour. Thankfully in this instance I could put everything I fancy into one thing and enjoy the best of both worlds.

While my final year of uni won't be quite such an easy task (and is possibly slightly more important), for now I can sit back knowing I've successfully made one decision and the outcome hasn't been a catastrophe.

And at the very least, I now have cake to help me with all this terribly exhausting thinking.

Mocha Cupcakes

Moist chocolate cupcakes finished with a glossy coffee buttercream and milk chocolate sprinkles

Makes 12

For the Cakes:

Ingredients

• 125g butter or margarine
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 150g self raising flour
• 2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder (I used Green & Blacks)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan oven)/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tray with 12 cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together using a wooden spoon.
3. Crack the eggs into the bowl one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the syrup.
4. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and gently fold into the butter mix a third at a time. Add the milk and continue to fold until everything is combined.
5. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for around 20 minutes until the cakes are risen and springy to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients

• 55g butter or margarine
• 110g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp of boiling water

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the coffee mixture.
2. Spread the butter cream onto the top of each cooled cake.
3. Add chocolate sprinkles or any other decorations you fancy.