We Should Cocoa ~ The Date Challenge

I have to admit that this months challenge was a toughie!  When Choclette announced that we all need to make something with chocolate and dates I had no clue what to do.  Hubby and I could not be considered fine connoisseurs in this department.  For me it is the texture of dates, my Granny used to make date scones when I was younger and I vividly remember the day I bit into one thinking it was full of sultanas, not quite scared for life but it has had an everlasting effect on me all the same.  For Hubby it is the flavour, so I knew that whatever I ended up making both the texture and flavour were going to have to be cleverly concealed.  This was no easy feat!

I scoured the Internet and blogs for ideas and recipes but nothing appealed.  Sticky Toffee pudding is nice but its Christmas time and I wanted to incorporate this into the challenge ... as if things weren't tricky enough!  So I ended up consulting my book shelf and this is what I found;

Christmas Pudding Cupcakes
110g sultanas
110g currants
120g chocolate drops
6 dates, stoned and chopped
170g unsalted butter, room temp
255g dark muscovado sugar
3 large eggs
170g SR flour
1 medium apple, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp mixed spice
4 tbsp rum
1 quantity White Chocolate Truffle Frosting

Preheat the oven to 170C.  Line two 12 hole non stick muffin tins with paper cases.

Place the sultanas, currants and dates in a pan.  Cover with water and bring to the boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 mins so the fruits are soft and swollen.

Beat the butter and sugar together until the colour begins to lighten.  add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the flour.  Stir in the grated apple, spice, rum and the drained fruit.

Divide the mixture between the paper cases.  Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 25 mins.  Insert a skewer or knife in the centre to check that the mixture is cooked.  Remove and turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool.

Make the icing and pipe onto the centre of the cooled cupcakes using a large star shaped nozzle.  Decorate as desired.

Makes 24 cupcakes
Adapted from Eat Me!

But of course there were just one or two hiccups along the way.  Firstly, I ran out of sultanas so had to make the quantity up with currants.  Then I ran out of the dark muscovado sugar but thankfully had some dark soft brown sugar left in a canister ... I ran out of that too and had to make the rest up with light brown soft sugar.  Turned out all for the best though, these cupcakes are delicious even if I do say so myself.  Sis In Law and Mum In Law were here today and munch away on them happily even when, like me, they aren't big Christmas Pudding fans. 

To decorate them I made use of some fondant I had left over from a cake order and made holly leaves and berries.  On some of them I painted some edible glue and then used wilton's white cake sprinkles to make them look as though they've been touched with frost ... this is not out of place for these parts at the moment!

To see all the other creations for this months challenge please head over to the Chocolate Log Blog after then 25th.  Don't forget to head back here on the 1st January to find out what the next challenge will be ;0)