These cute cupcakes bring together two things that Ravneet loves… cupcakes and cats! With delicious orange flavoured cake, chocolate icing, and surprise Bengal tiger stripes hidden inside, if you’re feline hungry, these cupcakes are absolutely purrrrfect.
Makes:
6 x cupcakes
Difficulty:
Needs skill
Hands-On Time:
30 mins
Baking Time:
22 mins
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- Ingredients
- Method
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Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
Step 2
For the cake, add the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and orange zest to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the mixture until smooth.
Step 3
Remove 1 tbsp of cake batter and colour it orange.
Step 4
Remove another 1 tbsp of batter and colour it black. Leave the rest of the batter plain.
Step 5
Transfer the 3 different colour cake batters into 3 separate piping bags.
Step 6
Snip the tip of the piping bag with the plain cake batter and pipe a thin layer in the bottom of all 6 cupcake cases.
Step 7
Snip the tip of the piping bag with the black batter and pipe thin circles over the plain cake batter, starting at the outside and getting smaller towards the middle. Use this diagram as a guide.
Step 8
Snip the tip of the piping bag with the orange cake batter and pipe over the black lines.
Step 9
Cover the top of the orange lines with another layer of the black batter.
Step 10
Fill in the gaps with the plain batter and pipe a plain layer on top.
Step 11
With the remaining cupcakes, repeat steps 7 to 10.
Step 12
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until risen and golden.
Step 13
Once the cakes are baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Step 14
For the buttercream, in a microwave heat the milk and mix in the cocoa powder, stirring to dissolve. Leave to cool a little.
Step 15
Add the butter and icing sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat together until light and fluffy.
Step 16
Remove 2 tbsps. of plain buttercream and place in a piping bag fitted with no nozzle.
Step 17
Add the cocoa powder and milk mix to the remaining buttercream and beat to combine.
Step 18
Transfer ¾ of the chocolate buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Transfer the remaining ¼ of the chocolate buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a petal nozzle.
Step 19
Pipe small stars of chocolate buttercream all over the cooled cakes to look like cat fur.
Step 20
Use the chocolate buttercream in the piping bag with the petal nozzle to pipe 2 cat ears on each cake.
Step 21
Use the plain buttercream to pipe two eyes and cheeks onto each cupcake.
Step 22
Add chocolate chip ‘pupils’ to each eye, an individual sprinkle to each ear, an individual sprinkle in between the cheeks to create a nose and chocolate strands to either said of the nose to create whiskers.
