Gloverly Cupcakes

I love trying new things and I have loads Christmassy things which I want to try to make. I have made these every year for the last few years so I nearly didn’t make them. But then I remembered how much everybody loved them and how easy they were to make so I decided I would. They are just chocolate brownies, rolled into balls and then decorated to look like mini Christmas puddings!

This is my favourite brownie recipe. It’s got the perfect brownie texture and is really chocolatey and not too sweet – when they come out the oven they look perfect: a crispy top and a gooey middle. I’ve stopped trying new brownie recipes now because I know these are so good. Which recipe is it? It’s Green & Black’s from their Unwrapped recipe book. They add cherries to them – in my opinion brownies should just be brownies i.e. no added fruit or nuts and these are perfect without the cherries.

The recipe for the brownies is at the bottom. Once you’ve made them, if you want to disguise them as mini Christmas puddings then here’s what you do:

• Once the brownie is cool tip it out of the tray and into a big bowl – if you’re impatient like me and it’s not completely cold it doesn’t matter!
• Take a spoon and give the brownie a good mix to make sure that the crunchy top and any slightly drier bits from round the edges are completely mixed in with the gooey middle bit.
• If it’s still a bit warm like mine was, put it in the fridge for a bit to chill it (this will make it easier to roll).
• Take a teaspoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball in your hands – place on a tray and keep going until you’ve used up/eaten all the mixture. I got about 100 balls out of mine (or 95 after they’d gone through quality control).
• Don’t worry if the balls aren’t perfect. Put the tray of balls into the fridge and leave to chill for about 30 minutes or until they feel firmer.
• Take them out the fridge and re-roll them in your hands – this will give them a much smoother finish and make it easier to get them into a perfect ball shape. If you don’t have time for this step don’t worry, they’ll still work if you don’t re-roll them.
• Melt about 150 – 200g of white chocolate and put it in a piping bag. Snip the end off and then pipe some onto the top of each ball.
• Make up some royal icing and colour half red and half green. Put each into a piping bag with a small round nozzle (Wilton 1 or 2 nozzle) and pipe on 3 dots of red for the berries and 2 holly leaves using the green.

Chocolate Brownies (adapted from Unwrapped)

300g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate

300g unsalted butter

450g granulated sugar

5 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

200g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. Line a 13″x10″ baking tin with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.

Melt the butter and chocolate together, either in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water, or gently in the microwave.

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl until the mixture is thick and creamy and coats the back of a spoon. Once the butter and the chocolate have melted, remove from the heat and beat in the egg mixture.

Sift the flour and salt together, then add them to the mixture, and continue to beat until smooth.

Pour into the roasting tin, ensuring the mixture is evenly distributed in the tin. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes or until the whole of the top has formed a light brown crust that has started to crack. This giant brownie should not wobble, but should remain gooey on the inside.