How to make cupcakes - with a dash of Marmite

Well, fear not because as part of the Spread the Love campaign by Marmite, we bring you two cupcake recipes, created by the talented food blogger MsMarmiteLover: one for Marmite Caramel Cupcakes and the other for Marmite Chocolate Cupcakes – and both with a liquid Marmite-flavoured centre...

MsMarmiteLover’s Marmite Caramel Cupcakes

Makes 12 cakes, approximately 45g each

Ingredients:

How to make the Marmite Caramel:

• 125ml cold water
• 330g caster sugar
• 250ml double cream
• Marmite to taste
• Frosting ingredients
• For 12 cupcakes (Double this recipe if you are making both the caramel and the chocolate marmite cupcakes)
• 250g icing sugar
• 62g cream cheese
• 32g unsalted butter

N.B this makes a bowlful so what you don't use you can save, spoon on ice-cream, pavlovas, eat straight from the jar....

How to make the Sugar Syrup:

• Equal weights of sugar and water
• 50g sugar
• 50g water

How to make the Vanilla Cupcake Base:

• 130g unsalted butter
• 130g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 130g beaten egg (organic)
• 195g plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 60ml milk

Method
First make your caramel:

• Combine the sugar and water in a medium sized saucepan until it dissolves.
• Bring it to the boil, without stirring, until it's a deep amber colour.
• Brush down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water to prevent crystallisation

(Now everybody likes their caramel a different shade, too dark and it has a bitter note. Remember the Marmite will also darken the colour).

• Swirl for even browning.
• Remove from heat once desired colour is reached.
• Whisk in cream carefully.
• Add Marmite to taste once it's cooled down enough to taste it without burning your lips and tongue, but warm enough to melt and blend in the Marmite easily.
• Set aside a small bowl of the caramel into which you can mix more Marmite, making a much stronger 'hit'. This I used for the centres, the rest will be mixed into the frosting.

Next make your frosting:

• Beat 1/3 of the icing sugar with cream cheese
• Melt butter in a saucepan.
• When icing sugar/cream cheese mixture is smooth, add the remaining icing sugar until incorporated.
• While still beating the mixture, pour in bubbling melted butter. Beat until smooth, but don't overbeat.
• Fold through the caramel. However be careful not to fold in too much or your frosting will collapse.
• Cover the frosting with clingfilm so that it doesn't crust over and put aside.

Make your vanilla cup cake base:

• Beat room temperature butter and sugar together for at least ten minutes on a high speed if using a mixer.
• Add egg slowly, very slowly, to make sure the mixture doesn't curdle.
• Sieve flour, baking powder, salt together.
• Fold in the flour until just incorporated
• Add the milk which you have warmed to room temperature
• If using a mixer, slow the speed, otherwise you will beat the air out.
• Keep scraping down the sides of your mixing bowl at regular intervals.
• Divide mixture into a baking muffin tin filling the strong baking cases.
• You can make sure you do this equally by setting the muffin tin on a digital scale and checking that you are adding 45g each time you fill a case.

Bake for 20-22 minutes in 160c degree conventional oven.

• In Aga I baked for 20 minutes in the baking oven. I found they rose better without the cool shelf.
• Leave to cool on a rack
• Then for the vanilla cupcakes, first brush the top of each cake with the sugar syrup. This keeps them moist. Cut out a little cone in the middle of the cake, fill with the strong Marmite caramel mixture and replace little 'hat' of cake
• To mix Marmite caramel into the frosting, put some frosting into a bowl and slowly add the caramel, not the other way round. You don't want your frosting to be so sloppy you can't top the cake with it.
• Frost the cakes with your palette knife and decorate

MsMarmiteLover’s Marmite Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Frosting for 12 Cupcakes:

• 250g icing sugar
• 62g cream cheese
• 32g unsalted butter

How to make Whipped Marmite Chocolate Ganache:
(For 12 cupcakes)

• 180g dark chocolate (use 54 % chocolate as it's less likely to split)
• 250ml double cream
• Marmite to taste

How to make Chocolate Cupcake Base:

• 12 @ 40g each
• 60g unsalted butter
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 125g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch salt
• 60ml fresh coffee (or if you want to go hardcore...60ml of Marmite to taste in hot water)
• 40g cocoa powder
• 60ml cold water

Method
First make the Marmite chocolate ganache. I set aside a portion which had a stronger Marmite taste for the centres.

• Make fresh coffee! You probably need a little break after all that and you will need it for your base recipe. Or, true believers (fanatics dare I say...), hot Marmite drink...
• Whisk the liquids (fresh coffee or Marmite) into the cocoa powder.
• When smooth add the cold water.
• Leave aside while...
• In a mixing bowl or food mixer, beat room temperature butter and sugar together for at least ten minutes on a high speed (if using a mixer).
• Keep scraping the sides down yeah?
• Add egg slowly, very slowly, to make sure the mixture doesn't curdle.
• Sieve flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.
• Fold the flour mix into your egg/sugar mix...but! Attention...
• Start by folding in a third of the Flour then a third of the cocoa/coffee/Marmite mixture
• It needs to be folded in alternately, starting with the flour, 1/3 at a time, otherwise it will be too stiff and won't take the liquid

Baking

• Divide your chocolate mixtures into a cupcake tin, weighing as described above, to ensure equal distribution.
• Muffin tin must ideally be lined with strong baking cases. You need 'em sturdy to have a sharp strong edge that you can frost 'against'.
• Bake for 20-22 minutes in 160c degree conventional oven.
• In Aga I baked for 20 minutes in the baking oven. I found they rose better without the cool shelf.

Frosting and filling

• When baked (they should spring back when touched) take them out carefully, trying not to separate the baking cases from the cake and cool on racks.
• When cool, take a small knife and cut out a cone shaped wedge from the centre of the cake to make a hole
• Lift out the centre of the cake and fill with either the strong Marmite chocolate ganache.
• Replace the little 'hat' or centre
• Taking your frosting, mix some of the Marmite chocolate ganache into it. Again, be careful you don't add so much that the frosting is not stiff enough to ice your cakes.
• Frost the chocolate cupcakes with a palette knife with the Marmite chocolate frosting.
• You can sprinkle a little edible glitter on top, I used gold.