Butterscotch Schnapps Cupcakes

Most of my baking incorporates a special 'secret' ingredient which serves as the source of inspiration and these little golden stunners are no exception. They contain one of my favourite ingredients for all kinds of cooking and baking, butterscotch Mickey Finn's - a dreamy discovery I made in a corner shop in Princes Risborough. Unlike the garishly green sour apple Mickey Finn's I remember downing by the bucketful in my student days (which always made me think of toxic waste), this has a lovely warm creamy vanilla taste and no nasty afterburn. It makes a fantastic addition to cakes and is also scrummy added to whipped cream, coffee, Coca Cola or simply drizzled over sponge pudding or brownies; the possibilities are endless! It's just a shame it's not very widely available in the UK. 

Following a failed first attempt and after looking at lots of different butterscotch cupcake recipes online, I decided on the addition of Angel Delight and cream soda in both the sponge and icing to complete the recipe - the result is a deliciously moist and moreish cake! If you're teetotal or aren't able to find the Mickey Finn's, the recipe is still delicious without it.

WARNING: Due to (I think) the alcohol content you may find the cakes fall slightly after they're removed from the oven - I managed to improve this a bit after altering the mixture a couple of times to the method below but the results were by no means perfect. So they may not be the most aesthetically-pleasing cupcakes, but the sponge is still super moist and tasty and it's not that noticeable once they've been iced!

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12-15

For the cakes:

• 5 oz self-raising flour
• 4 oz caster sugar
• 4 oz margarine/butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp butterscotch Mickey Finn's (or other brand of butterscotch schnapps)
• 3/4 packet butterscotch flavour Angel Delight
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cream soda

For the icing:

• 10 oz icing sugar
• 5 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 1 tsp butterscotch Mickey Finn's
• 1 tsp cream soda
• 1/4 packet butterscotch flavour Angel Delight
• Sprinkling brown sugar, to decorate

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line a baking tray with 12-15 paper cake cases.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder, Mickey Finn's, cream soda, vanilla extract and 3/4 of the Angel Delight until batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed. Add a little extra flour if excessively runny.
4. Drop the mixture into the paper cases using a teaspoon until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
6. When baked,  place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for decorating at a later date if you wish.

For the icing:

1. Place the butter, Mickey Finn's, cream soda and the remaining 1/4 of the Angel Delight into a bowl and stir/whisk thoroughly while gradually adding the icing sugar until a fairly stiff mixture has formed. It's usually best to play this bit by ear - if too runny, add more icing sugar or if too stiff, add a splash more cream soda.
2. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with an attached nozzle of your choice (I used a rope effect one) and pipe onto the cooled cakes or simply spread it on using a palette knife, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar. And scoff! Yum.

Edit: I used the same recipe to make a larger layer cake as a commission for a lady at work - she was very impressed!