A luxurious black & white chocolate cupcake

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 100g self-raising flour, sifted
• 20g cocoa powder
• 145g golden caster sugar
• 40g butter, at room temperature
• 120ml whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

For the white chocolate frosting

• 280g butter, at room temperature
• 280g icing sugar, sifted
• 200g white chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed

To decorate

• Dark, milk and white chocolate buttons, if desired

Cooking Instructions

1. For the sponge: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole tin with cupcake paper cases. Tip the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and butter into a food processor and blitz on a slow speed for one minute, until you achieve a sandy consistency.
2.  Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until just incorporated. Don’t worry if it looks a little messy at this stage it will come together! In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining milk together with the egg, vanilla extract and coffee. Pour into the batter and beat for a couple of minutes until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl to catch any unmixed ingredients as you go.
3. Divide the mixture between the 12 paper cases, filling each one up two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when prodded with a finger. Leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting.
4. For the frosting: Tip the butter and icing sugar into a food processor and beat until well combined. Using a spoon, fold through the white chocolate and vanilla seeds until well combined. Refrigerate for up to 30 minutes.
5. When the sponges have cooled completely, carefully spoon a third of the frosting into a piping bag and use it to decorate the first four cupcakes. Repeat until you have finished them all. Alternatively, just use a palette knife to spread about 2 tbsp of frosting onto each cupcake.
6. Decorate with chocolate buttons, if desired.