Nutella Cupcakes with Malteaser Burst

Not really the ideal cake for anyone on a New Year's diet but utterly delicious...and a bit of a looker to boot! I made these for a birthday and they were really well received.

I used the mybakes.co.uk nutella cupcake recipe, although there are several different versions about. A taste tester tried one on the day they were made and then tried another one the next day, the verdict...twice as delicious on day two!

The suggested decoration for this cupcake is a couple of malteasers on top but if you really want to make an impact you can try a Malteaser burst. To make it I used gold florist wire, florist tape, a flower pick and obviously Malteasers! Cut 5 pieces of wire of various lengths and then fasten together at one end with florist tape. Push a Malteaser on to the end of each piece of wire and then bend each one outwards. It is not generally recommended to push this straight into the cakes, especially if you were to lose the piece of florist tape off the end. It may therefore be advisable to insert a flower pick before icing, although I know that some people may just push the individual bits of wire into the cake!

Finally, thanks to Matthew Piper who took the stunning photo at the top. Check out more of his pictures on Flickr.

New Year's Malt Choc Cheesecake

Planning a New Year's Eve buffet or lunch on January 1st? This cheesecake would be great for either occasion. It's a malt chocolate cheesecake with a milk chocolate and malt (Horlicks!) layer and a white chocolate layer on top of a malted milk biscuit base...and what else could you decorate a malt cheesecake with, other than malteasers!!

A lovely easy cheescake which will certainly help you win friends and influence people!! ;-) It's not strictly a bake but it's definitely a winner.

• 200g malted milk biscuits
• 100g salted butter
• 5 tbsp caster sugar
• 600g full fat soft cheese
• 300ml double cream
• 300g white chocolate
• 200g milk chocolate
• 2 tbsp malt or Horlicks powder
• Bag of white malteasers

Bash the biscuits until they resemble crumbs... I blitzed mine in the food processor but there's always the traditional method of plastic bag and rolling pin if you wish to take out some aggression! Melt the butter in a pan and then add 2tbsp of sugar and the biscuit crumbs and mix before pressing the mixture in to a 23cm loose bottom or springform tin and chilling.

 

Take two bowls and divide the cream cheese and the cream between the two. Add the Horlicks, milk chocolate and remaining sugar to one and the white chocolate to the other, mix well, it may be best to do this with an electric whisk.

 

Spread the milk chocolate mix over the biscuit base in an even layer before adding the white chocolate mix on top. Gently smooth the white chocolate layer, making sure you push it right to the edges of the tin so there are no gaps between the layers. Finally, decorate with Malteasers.