Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Directions

Chocolate Orange Sponge

1. Preheat the oven to 160’C fan/ 350’F/ gas mark 4. Line a 12 hole cupcake tray with cases.

2. Start by preparing your buttermilk mixture. In a small bowl whisk together the full fat milk and lemon juice, place in the fridge to curdle and thicken.

3. Chop up your Dark Chocolate Orange Bar into tiny pieces or alternatively blitz in a food processor to create a finer crumb.

4. In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: plain flour, cocoa powder, caster sugar, bicarbonate of soda, chopped orange chocolate and the zest of two oranges. Whisk to combine.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the the wet ingredients: two large free range eggs, cold coffee, vegetable oil and 120ml of the preprepared “buttermilk” mixture that should now have curdled and thickened nicely. Whisk thoroughly.

6. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk together to create a smooth, runny cake batter.

7. Distribute your cake batter into the lined cupcake tin, filling each case 3/4 of the way full. Roughly 2.5 tablespoons worth of mix in each.

8. Bake in the preheated oven for 22 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Chocolate Orange Ganache

1. To make the ganache, add the Cocoa Loco Milk and Orange Chocolate Thins and the Couverture Dark Chocolate Buttons to a heatproof bowl along with 250ml of double cream.

2. Heat over a pan of shallow simmering water, stirring every so often until melted, glossy and smooth. This should take around 10 minutes.

3. Once the chocolate and cream has melted together remove from the heat and place in the fridge for around 40 minutes.

4. Next, take the cooled ganache out of the fridge and using an electric hand whisk, whisk until the mixture has increased in volume slightly and holds its shape. It should appear lighter in colour and be of a good piping consistency.

Decoration

1. Transfer the ganache into a piping bag with a round nozzle at the end and pipe onto the top of the cooled cupcakes. You could alternatively use a knife or spoon to spread the ganache on top.

2. Lastly, for the decoration hold the cupcakes upside down one at a time and dip gently into a cup or bowl of the melted chocolate orange bar and top with a slice of dried orange.