Liquorice Cupcakes

It's Halloween tomorrow so why not bake something that sounds abit weird but tastes delicious?



Ingredients:
170g soft liquorice
4 tbsp water
120g unsalted butter, softened
120g light brown sugar, packed
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
2 large Baking Eggs



Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.
Gently melt the liquorice in a small pan with 2 tbsp of water. Stir occasionally then add the rest of the water. Leave to cool.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, leaving a minute between each addition.
Add the liquorice and mix in well.
Gently stir in the flour mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake liners, filling ¾ of the way and bake for 18 mins or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Buttercream

120g butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Black food colouring

Cream the butter until smooth, gradually add the icing sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla until combined.

Add a few drops of black food colouring to the buttercream and mix until it reaches a mid-grey colour. Spread onto each cupcake using a palette knife. Add a few more drops of black colouring to the remaining buttercream until it reaches the desired shade of black. Spoon into a piping bag and cut the tip off. Pipe the black buttercream onto the cupcakes into a spiderweb design.