I decided to usher in the New Year by giving the blog a shiny new look.  And for the first post of the New Year and the new look, it had to be cupcakes, and they had to be chocolate… and sort of starry.

Regular readers will be familiar with Chief Stick Collector and Bird Girl. Well, they helped with these cakes, and one of their attempts  even survived long enough to make it into the photos (spot the one with the random marshmallows!).  For their others, they decided chocolate and stars weren’t special or sparkly enough; and so those cakes got the full glitter-icing treatment (as did a couple of plates, the kitchen table, their hands, clothes and faces and Bird Girl’s hair). But hey, if you can’t beglitter the kitchen on New Year’s Eve, when can you?

Happy New Year to all readers near and far!

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Ingredients

Cake
50 g margarine
115 g soft dark brown sugar
2 eggs (large)
115 g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
25 g cocoa powder
125 ml soured cream
1 tbsp Nutella

Topping
3 tbsp Nutella
1 dsp cream
Cake decorations of choice (we used white chocolate stars and mini marshmallows)

Makes 18

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 160°C fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

Sift the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder into a large bowl.  Add the margarine, sugar and Nutella and mix until smooth (an electric hand whisk is best for this).

Then fold in the soured cream.

Line 2 bun or muffin trays with paper cases, and spoon the mixture as fairly as possible into the cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. They should be well risen. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, mix the Nutella and cream to a smooth paste and either pipe or spread onto the cooled cakes.  Decorate as you want, then chill for 20 minutes in the fridge to set the icing.

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