I bought a bag of peeled roasted Chestnuts at an Asian grocery store. I coarsely chopped the Chestnuts and mixed them into my ‘Basic Plain Cupcakes’. As the flavour of the cupcakes was so good, I decided to decorate the cakes like my ‘Mont Blanc Cake’. A bitter sweet memory instantly came back and I cried. You can read the story at ‘Mont Blanc Cake’ page.

Makes

12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

125g Butter *softened
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Rum OR Vanilla Extract
1 & 1/2 cups Self-Raising Flour
1/2 cup Milk
150g peeled roasted Chestnuts *coarsely chopped

Chestnut Cream
1/2 cup Cream *whipped
4 tablespoons Sweet Chestnut Paste

1 teaspoon Rum

Method
  1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole medium-size muffin tin with paper cases.
  2. Beat softened Butter in a mixing bowl with a whisk until smooth. Add Sugar and beat until creamy.
  3. Add Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the Eggs are too cold, the mixture will curdle. Try to stand the bowl in warm water, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds, then continue beating until the batter becomes smooth and creamy.
  4. Add Rum or Vanilla, gently fold in Flour with a spatula or a large metal spoon, add Milk and chopped Chestnuts as well, and mix until just combined. DO NOT over-mix.
  5. Spoon the mixture into paper cases. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Leave in tins for 5 minutes before moving onto wire rack to cool.
  6. To make Chestnut Cream, combine Sweet Chestnut Paste and Rum, then add to the whipped Cream and mix well. Decorate the cooled cupcakes with the Chestnut Cream.