We love the adorable faces on these cheeky sugarpaste piglets wallowing in chocolatey mud cupcakes, topped with a rich chocolate buttercream frosting.
Pigs in Mud Cupcakes
Preparation time 1 hour 30 mins Baking time 20-25 mins Makes 12 For the cakes: 130g butter, softened 130g caster sugar 110g self raising flour, sifted 20g cocoa powder, sifted 1 tsp baking powder 2 large eggs, beaten For the frosting: 100g butter, softened 120g icing sugar 30g cocoa powder, sifted 1 tbsp milk For the pigs: 40g pink sugarpaste A small piece of white sugarpaste Black edible writing pen Edible glue or water 1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C/160˚C fan/gas mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. For the cakes, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and eggs and beat again for 2-3 mins until fully combined and smooth. Divide the mixture equally between the cake cases and bake for 20-25 mins until the cakes are well risen and spring back when lightly pressed. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. 2 For the frosting, beat the butter until very soft then gradually beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add the milk, a little at a time until the frosting is very soft. Roughly spread some frosting on the top of each cake to create a mud effect. 3 For the piglets, knead the pink sugarpaste until soft. Roll a small piece of pink sugarpaste into a ball to create a head. Roll a smaller piece of sugarpaste into a ball, add a little edible glue or water to the back of it then press onto the front of the first ball towards the bottom to create the snout. Use a cocktail stick to create the nostrils as well as a smile. 4 To make the ears, flatten a small piece of pink sugarpaste and cut out two tiny triangles from it. Use edible glue or water to stick them, pointing forwards, to the top of the head. For the eyes, roll two tiny ball of white sugar paste and stick them above the snout. Make a dot in the centre of each ball using the black edible pen. 5 To make the trotters, roll two small pieces of pink sugarpaste into cylinder shapes and push a blunt knife in the centre of one end of each cylinder to make an indentation. Roll a ball of pink sugarpaste to create the tummy and slightly flatten if creating the pig lying on its back. Roll another ball of pink sugarpaste to create the bottom and make an indentation down the centre with a blunt knife. To add a tail, roll a very thin sausage of pink sugarpaste and twist it around a cocktail stick before sticking to the bottom. 6 Stick the pieces together to create a piglet or arrange them on top of the cake as though they are sticking up out of the chocolaty mud. Repeat for the rest of the cakes arranging the pieces in various ways so the piglets are wallowing in different positions!
