Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

These are basically Oreo cupcakes, except I used those fake knock off oreos. I've made these twice, once following the quantities and method used in this recipe however the batch made 22 cupcakes, not 12. So be aware of that if you ever follow that recipe. As per usual, I made a few changes but it still ended up making 22 cupcakes. So if you don't like things not being even and perfect, look away now!

I made up my own icing as well since I thought 350g of sugar was a bit excessive but that's personal taste. I added a bit of red food colouring too to make it pink and more Valentine's day appropriate but you don't have to do that because cake and chocolate shouldn't be celebrated just one day of the year. (What do you mean that's not what Valentine's day is about?) You could also add crushed oreos to the mixture for extra crunch and yumminess. I decorated them with red fondant hearts (I just rolled the fondant out and used heart shaped biscuit cutters), strawberries and crushed oreos. 

I bought these amazing cupcake boxes in a shop called Ava (which I have recently been obsessed with). It is basically a huge stationery/office supply shop that also sells baking stuff. Two of my favourite things combined! The boxes make the cupcakes look even cuter and slightly professional which is a plus when your decorating skills are as non-existent as mine.

Ingredients:

200g plain flour

280g caster sugar

40g cocoa powder

40g crushed oreos

3 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

80g unsalted butter

240ml Milk

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

22 oreos

22 cupcake cases

Icing:

250g mascarpone cheese

150g icing sugar

red food colouring

Decoration:

strawberries, red fondant, more crushed oreos

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line your muffin tray then add an oreo to each case. I did 12 like this and then decided to experiment a little and added a few oreos on top of the batter and a few stuck inside the batter. They all baked properly and tastes amazing!

Add the flour, butter, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix until you get a sandy consistency, then add the crushed oreos and mix again.

In a separate bowl, mix the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together then add half into the flour mixture and mix together so that it all sticks together in a lump. Then add the rest of the milk mixture and mix until smooth.

Fill the paper cases about two-thirds and bake for 20-25 minutes. When you stick a knife in to see if they are done, bear in mind that there are oreos at the bottom and the cream tends to make it look like the cupcakes aren't fully baked when they actually are. 

For the icing, mix together the mascarpone and the sugar until smooth. Then slowly add red food colouring. It's better to do this bit by bit to make sure you get the right colour. 

Once the cupcakes have cooled you can decorate them. This particular icing probably isn't the best for piping as it's a bit runnier than your standard icing, so just use with a knife. I'm not the best at icing so this suits me just find. My technique is to splat it on and spread it a little until it looks artistically messy.

Then decorate them however you want and you're done!