
These sticky toffee cupcakes have a delicious liquorice-flavoured sponge and toffee buttercream. Topped with liquorice allsorts, this special cupcake recipe by Fiona Cairns is perfect as an afternoon tea treat
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 12 cupcakes cases
- 85g unsalted butter, softened plus more for the tins
- 100ml whole milk
- 30g liquorice (Fiona used 22 x 6.5cm lengths of soft, sweet Australian liquorice), roughly chopped
- 200g dates, pitted and chopped
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 140g golden caster sugar
- Seed of 1 vanilla pod or 1tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
For the buttercream:
- 170g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
For the liquorice caramel:
- 100g demerara sugar
- 60ml double cream
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- 30g liquorice
To decorate:
- Piping bag and star nozzle
- Liquorice allsorts
WEIGHT CONVERTER
Method
- For the cakes:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Place the paper cases in a cupcake tray.
- In a small saucepan, bring the milk and liquorice to a boil. Remove from the heat, stir and press on the liquorice to extract the flavour. Cover and leave to infuse for at least 30 mins. Taste the milk. It should be a liquorice milk flavour, then strain.
- Meanwhile in a heatproof bowl pour 175ml boiling water over the dates and leave to soak for 20 mins then mash with a fork.
- Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
- Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds or extract for about 5 mins with an electric mixer. Add the eggs gradually with 1tsp flour to stop the mixture curdling. Fold in the remaining flour, date mixture and milk.
- Divide the batter between the cases and bake for 15–20 mins, or until the tops spring back to the touch. Remove from the oven, leave in the tins a couple of minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
- Make the buttercream by creaming the butter and icing sugar for at least five minutes in an electric mixer (or with a hand-held mixer).
- To make the caramel, in a small heavy-based pan, dissolve the sugar with 3 tbsp water over a gentle heat, then increase to a boil. Leave the pan undisturbed for a few mins, until it turns a lovely rich, caramel colour and has thickened. Give it your full attention at this stage!
- Remove from the heat and add the cream and treacle, protecting your hands with a tea towel. Stir well, then return to the heat with the liquorice, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, stirring all the time, and continue to cook until the mixture thickens. Remove and leave for all the flavours to mingle and allow the mixture to cool.
- Taste; it should have a toffee liquorice flavour. Remove the liquorice and, when the caramel is only barely warm, whisk well into the buttercream. (If the caramel is too cold, it will need to be warmed very slightly so it will combine easily into the buttercream. Too hot, and it will melt the buttercream.)
- Divide the buttercream between the cakes, piping it on if you wish and decorate with liquorice allsorts.
Top Tip for making Fiona Cairns' liquorice toffee cupcakes
Stack the cupcakes on a tower to make a impressive centre piece for a party
You might also like…
Goodto Newsletter
Parenting advice, hot topics, best buys and family finance tips delivered straight to your inbox.
Trusted, informative, and empathetic – GoodTo is the ultimate online destination for mums. Established in 2007, our 15-year-strong archive of content includes more than 18,000 articles, 1,500 how-to videos, and 7,000 recipes.
-
Mary Berry's almond cupcakes
Mary Berry's deliciously moist almond cupcakes are packed with apricots and sultanas for a fruity twist. Make 12 cupcakes using this recipe...
By Mary Berry Published
-
Banana cupcakes
Banana cupcakes are a lighter, sweet and cake-ier version of the banana bread bake - the nation's favourite...
By Jessica Dady Published
-
Chocolate cupcake
Our easy chocolate cupcake recipe takes 20 minutes to bake and have a rich chocolate buttercream topping.
By Rosie Conroy Last updated
-
Gingerbread cuckoo clock
A festive project that doubles as a decoration with the ultimate wow factor!
By Rose Fooks Published
-
Air fryer French toast bites
If you like French toast, you're going to love these air fryer French toast bites - the perfect weekend treat...
By Nathan Anthony Published
-
Air fryer fish tacos
Say hello to these mouthwatering air fryer fish tacos ready and on the table in just 20 minutes...
By Nathan Anthony Published