Disco Ball Cupcakes

Check out these cupcakes I made for an event last week.  They went down really well.  If you fancy giving them a go- see below for the recipe and method. Let me know what you think!

Connie Viney’s Recipe for 

Chocolate and Vanilla Disco Ball Cupcakes

Makes 7-8 medium cupcakes

Ingredients:

Ingredients for vanilla section

125g unsalted butter (softened)

150g caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

225g plain flour (sieved)

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

Ingredients for chocolate section

125g unsalted butter (softened)

175g caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

175g self raising flour (sieved)

1 pinch salt

50g cocoa powder (good quality)

Ingredients for cupcake topping

300g grams icing sugar (sieved) 

100g unsalted butter (softened)

40g milk

40g cocoa powder (good quality)

250g white rolled fondant icing

1 can of silver edible lustre spray

Extras

7-8 silver cupcake cases

8 inch square baking tin

Electric mixer

Muffin baking tray

Greaseproof paper

Method:

Making the vanilla cake section (the music notes for inside the cupcakes)

• Preheat your oven to 180 C.
• Cut a music note template out of a piece of card.  Make sure it fits neatly inside your silver cupcake cases.
• Line your 8 x 8 inch square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
• Now mix together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, using an electric mixer.  Mix in the vanilla essence and the pinch of salt.  Fold in the plain flour and baking powder with a metal spoon.  Make sure they are mixed in thoroughly.  
• Pour the mixture into the lined baking tin and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
• When the cake is baked, let it cool on a metal wire rack for 30 minutes. 
• Using a sharp knife, level off the vanilla cake so it has a flat top.  
• Take your music note template and cut 7-8 music note shapes out of the vanilla cake.  Make sure each music note is approximately 1 inch thick.  
• Now set these music notes aside while you make your chocolate mixture. 

Making the chocolate section

• Mix together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, using an electric mixer.  Mix in the vanilla essence and the pinch of salt.  Fold in the self raising flour with a metal spoon.  Make sure it is mixed in thoroughly.  Finally fold in the cocoa powder. 
• Place 7-8 silver cupcake cases on a table in front of you.  Now, using a teaspoon place a small dollop of the chocolate mixture in each case- so it covers the bottom. 
• Now bring back your vanilla music notes.  Place one in each of the cupcake cases- pressing it firmly into the chocolate mixture- so the music note can stand upright independently. 
• Using a spoon, fill three quarters of the cupcake cases with chocolate mixture- making sure it is covering every section of the music note.  If the top of the music note is poking out above the cupcake case, don’t worry.  Just cover the top of it with a thin layer of chocolate mixer (it will all be covered when the chocolate mixture rises in the oven.  
• Before you put the cupcakes in the oven to bake, you need to get a black pen and mark two small dots on the cupcake cases- one dot either side of where the music note is positioned (imagine that you will be cutting horizontally down the middle of the music note at the end- you need to be reminded which part of the cupcake you need to cut into).   
• Place the cupcakes into a muffin tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Leave to cool for 30 minutes. 

Decorating the cupcakes

• To make chocolate frosting, mix together the butter, icing sugar, milk and cocoa powder.
• Using a metal spoon or a spatula spread the chocolate frosting over the cupcakes. 
• Now take a small section of your fondant icing and roll it out flat using a rolling pin. 
• Using a small knife cut approximately 50 8mm squares of icing. 
• Starting in the middle of your cupcake, place these icing squares on top of your chocolate frosting in a way that resembles the disco ball pattern.  Remember that you will need to trim these squares down as you get closer to the edges of the cupcake case. 
• When the icing pattern on each of your cupcakes resembles a disco ball, it’s time to spray each one of them silver using your edible lustre spray.  Leave the spray to dry for 30 minutes.

You’re cupcakes are ready to be eaten!