Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes

5 from 18 votes

The recipe makes more than enough sticky toffee sauce for the cupcakes. Any extra can be used to top ice cream.

Prep Time40

Cook Time20

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Servings:

Calories: 432kcal

Begin by putting the dates and bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl and pouring boiling water over to just cover the fruit. Set aside
Preheat the oven 170C/ 325F/ GM3 and line a cupcake tray with paper cake cases
Using electric beater, cream the butter and sugar together until light & fluffy
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well
Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and gently stir in, using a large metal spoon until thoroughly combined. Take care not to overwork the batter though
Drain the dates through a sieve - give it a good shake to remove the liquid. Quickly fold the dates into the cake batter
Divide between the cupcake cases - filling each case around ⅔ full - and bake for approximately 20 minutes
Test that the cupcakes are baked through: poke a cocktail stick into one of the cakes - if it comes out clean then the cakes are ready. If not, return to the oven for a couple more minutes, then test again

While the cupcakes are baking measure all of the sauce ingredients (except the vanilla extract) into a saucepan
When the cupcakes have around 10 minutes of baking time left, put the pan on a moderate heat and all the ingredients to fully melt, stirring with a wooden spoon frequently
When everything has dissolved, turn up the heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute
Reduce the heat to low, stir in the vanilla extract and keep the pan on the heat to keep warm
As soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven drizzle 1 teaspoon of sauce over each cupcake, spreading it out a little (but it does not need to cover the top of the entire cake - see my picture)
Let the rest of the sauce cool to room temperature

Put the butter into a medium bowl and beat until smooth and soft
Sieve in the icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat well between each addition
Once all of the icing sugar has been mixed in, beat in the cooled sticky toffee sauce

Once the cupcakes and sauce have cooled completely, pipe a thin line of buttercream around the edge of each cupcake (½ cm in)
Using a Wilton 30 star nozzle pipe lines from the edge of the cupcake, over the circular line previously piped and finish ⅓ of the way into the cupcake (see my step by step images for a little more guidance.
(My tip is to pipe lines at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock and then fill in the gaps with more lines)
Once the full circle of lines has been piped, pour 1-2 tsp sauce into the centre of each cupcake - enough to fill the space left, but not enough to make it pour over the top
Neaten the cupcake up by piping small stars (using the same nozzle) all the way around the edge of the pool of sauce.
(Again, my step-by-step images will help clarify this action)
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days