Golden Snitch Cupcakes

Method

1. To make the cupcakes, begin by preheating the oven to 190°C/170° Fan/Gas Mark 5. Line a muffin tin with 12 cases.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of the flour to stop it curdling. Add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour and milk until you have a soft dropping consistency.

   • 285g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
   • 285g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
   • 5 Eggs (Free Range, Large)
   • 1 tsp Nielsen Massey Vanilla Extract
   • 285g Self-Raising White Flour
   • 1 tsp Baking Powder
   • 1½ tbsp Milk (Whole)

3. Use 2/3 of the mixture to fill your muffin cases. Bake for 25 minutes. Once fully baked remove from the tin and cool on a rack. 

4. To make the cake pop decorations line the tin with 5 or 6 more additional cupcake cases. Fill these cases with the remaining mixture and bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a rack and keep aside 

5. While the cakes are cooling make the buttercream. Cream together the butter and icing sugar, add the milk and the vanilla bean paste. Whip for about 5 minutes until its very soft and fluffy. Separate ¼ of this mixture to make the cake pops; the rest will be for the finished cupcakes.

   • 160g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
   • 320g Billington's Unrefined Golden Icing Sugar
   • 2 tbsp Milk (Whole)
   • 1 tsp Nielsen Massey Vanilla Bean Paste

6. To make the cake pops; crumble the second smaller batch of cooled cupcakes by hand or with a food processor. When they are fine crumbs, mix in the small amount of buttercream. Shape into 12 balls about 20g each. Chill the cake pops until they are very firm.

7. Draw a template for the wings and lay it under some baking parchment. Melt 200g of white chocolate and put in a piping bag. Pipe pairs of wings onto the baking parchment. Make a few more than you need in case you make any mistakes. Chill until set.

   • 200g White Chocolate

8. When the cake pops are set, melt more white chocolate and coat the little balls. Allow to set hard in the fridge.

   • 200g White Chocolate

9. When the wings and cake pops are chilled and firm paint them gold with lustre powder or food spray paint.

10. Pipe swirls of buttercream onto your cupcakes.

11. Cut the cake pop sticks until they are short enough to stand up in the cupcakes so the cake pops sit securely on the top.

12. Position the wings either side of the cake pop to make a Golden Snitch.