WHITE CHOCOLATE AND IRISH CREAM CUPCAKES

PREP: 30 minutes; BAKING: 20 minutes

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) water
400 g (14 oz) good-quality white chocolate
200 g (7 oz) butter
450 g (1 lb) self-raising flour
450 g (1 lb) light brown sugar
6 eggs
3 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur

• Put the water, chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan. Heat very gently until the chocolate and butter have melted, stirring constantly to make sure the chocolate doesn’t settle at the bottom of the pan and burn. Once everything is melted take the pan off the heat and leave the mixture to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line three 12-hole cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
• Separate the eggs, putting the egg yolks into a large bowl with the sugar, and the egg whites in another grease-free bowl. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until they are pale and fluffy.
• Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture, then add the vanilla extract and Irish cream and mix well. Sift the flour and fold it into the mixture.
• With clean beaters, whisk the egg whites until they have formed stiff peaks. Fold them into the cake batter, one-third at a time.
• Fill the cupcake cases with the batter to around three-quarters full. The batter is quite runny so you may find this easier if you put the batter in a jug. Have a spoon at hand to catch any drips from the lip of the jug to prevent spots of batter falling onto the sides of the cases and creating burn marks once they are cooked.
• Put all the cupcake tins into the oven at the same time and bake for 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. The cakes at the top of the oven may bake more speedily and the bottom tin may need a little longer. If your oven has hot spots, turn the trays two-thirds of the way through cooking.
• As soon as the cakes are out of the oven prick them all over the top and brush Irish cream over them. Cool the cakes in the tins for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.