the hungry mum

Until you have tried burnt butter, either as a sweet or savoury dish, you cannot imagine how wonderful it tastes.

Simple kitchen alchemy transforms it into a creation heavenly enough to eat with a spoon – although don’t tell your cardiologist I said that.

Burning your butter is an easy peasy way to elevate baked goods into rich, decadent treats. These burnt butter brown sugar cupcakes are sophisticated enough to serve at an adult party – no sprinkles or food colouring here. Miss9 highly rated them, saying they were light and fluffy and less sweet than my usual vanilla cupcake recipe.

Serve these cupcakes au naturel, with a dusting of icing sugar, or a smothering of my all-purpose chocolate ganache – see below. This recipe was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s iconic ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess.’

GATHER:

150 grams unsalted butter, diced

1 cup self-raising flour

just over ¼ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of milk

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12-hole cupcake pan with wrappers (my batch only made 11).

In a small pan over low heat stir the butter frequently until it turns dark golden – this will take some time but don’t walk away or you will end up with a ruined pan and butter that will end u p in the bin. When it starts foaming like crazy is when you when to remove it from the heat.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until combined – it is quite a thick batter.

Spoon into the pans and bake for 16 minutes / until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

In a small saucepan over low heat melt 125g dark chocolate [broken into chunks] with 1/2 cup pouring cream. Stir until melted, thick and glossy. Allow to stand 15 minutes until thick. Use knife to spread over cakes.

Tags: bake, baked, baking, brown sugar, burnt butter, butter, chocolate, cooking, cupcake, cupcakes, food, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella Lawson