Coffee cupcakes with chocolate frosting

Serves:    12

Ingredients

For the cakes

·               175 g self-raising flour

·               175 g butter, at room temperature

·               175 g caster sugar

·               3 large eggs

·               45 ml espresso coffee

·               75 g pecans, roughly chopped

For the syrup

·               30 ml hot espresso coffee

·               50 g light muscovado sugar

For the topping

·               100 g mascarpone, at room temperature

·               50 g milk chocolate, melted and cooled

·               12 pecan halves

Method

1.        Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Whisk the flour, butter, sugar and eggs together in a large bowl, until smooth and fluffy.

2.        Fold in the coffee and chopped nuts.

3.        Spoon the mixture into 12 paper cake cases set them in a muffin or tartlet tin. Bake for 15 minutes or so, until risen and firm to the touch.

4.        While the cakes are in the oven, stir the sugar and espresso together. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, pierce them in several places with a skewer and drizzle over the syrup. Leave to cool.

To make the topping, whisk the mascarpone and cool melted chocolate together until smooth. Spread over the cakes, decorate each with a pecan half and serve straight away.