Clowning Around Cupcakes
Makes 24, Prep and Cook: 2 hours, 30 mins
175g unsalted butter, chopped 1½ cups water 1½ cups caster sugar ¼ cup cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 3 eggs, lightly beaten 2½ cups self-raising flour Hundreds and thousands,
to decorate
HATS 2 x 330g packets royal icing Orange food colouring gel,
to tint 24 original ice-cream cones 72 Mini Jazzies and 24 Jaffas,
to decorate
FROSTING 400g unsalted butter, chopped,
at room temperature 4½ cups icing sugar mixture 1 tblsp milk Yellow liquid food colouring,
to tint
1 To make hats, place both packets of icing in a small bowl of an electric mixer. Add ²⁄³ cup water. Beat on low speed until smooth and thick. Tint orange. Transfer to a medium jug. 2 Holding the wide top of each cone, dip into icing to cover completely. Allow excess to drip away, about 2 minutes. Stand upright on two large oven trays lined with baking paper. Leave for 1 hour. Reserve remaining icing. 3 Scrape away excess icing from base of cones. Stick on Jazzies using reserved icing as glue. Stand overnight to dry completely. 4 Line two 12-hole muffin pans (¹⁄³-cup capacity) with paper cases. 5 Combine butter, water, sugar and sifted cocoa, and soda in a large saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Bring to boil. Transfer to a large bowl. Stand, whisking occasionally, until cooled. 6 Whisk in eggs and flour until smooth. Pour into paper cases (about 2 tblsps in each). 7 Cook in a moderately slow oven (160C) for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until cooked when tested. Stand in pans for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. 8 To make frosting, beat butter in a large bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in ½ cup sugar at a time until smooth. Beat in the milk. Tint yellow. 9 Spoon half the frosting into a disposable piping bag fitted with a 2D drop flower piping tip. Twist bag. Pipe around edge of cupcakes. Re-fill bag with remaining frosting. Pipe over first pipe. Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands. 10 Pipe a rosette of frosting on top of cones. Top with Jaffas. Arrange on cakes.