Christmas recipes: Eggnog latté cupcakes

I don't know about you, but every year by around the tenth of December I've had enough of mince pies. I'm not a great fan of them in general, and since we're going to spend Christmas with family, I thought it would be nice to try and find a recipe for an alternative treat to take along with me for the celebrations.
After spending a blissfully happy afternoon browsing recipes online, I came across the following one on the Good Food website.
Anything that claims to taste like my favourite winter drink from Starbucks has to be worth a shot!

 These are incredibly simple to bake, make the entire house smell absolutely delicious (No need for any Yankee Christmas candles!), and if you've been doing any festive baking at all I'm sure you will have the majority of the ingredients already lurking in your kitchen cupboard.

I made two batches (we will not speak of the first, suffice to say I immediately left the house to buy a new baking tray) and after making the frosting, put them in the fridge for an hour to set before adding the finishing touch- a sprinkling of Dairy Milk with Oreo!

They do indeed taste just like eggnog lattés (and probably have just as many calories but who's counting eh?) and if you're looking for a last minute treat to bake that's a bit different to the norm, definitely give them a go!
Here's the recipe:


For the cupcakes

100 g unsalted butter, softened
240 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
100 ml milk
220 g plain flour, sifted, plus extra
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
60 g white chocolate, grated

For the frosting

100 g white chocolate
125 g unsalted butter
250 g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp double cream
1 tsp ground cinnamon



1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C Fan/gas 4. Prepare a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Cream the softened butter and caster sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs one by one, adding a little flour at any sign of curdling. Pour in the milk and mix well.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix until thoroughly combined.

4. Finally, add the chocolate to the batter and fold it through to distribute evenly. Fill prepared cupcake cases 2/3rds full with the batter.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

6.Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water.

7. Cream together the butter, icing sugar and double cream.  Add the melted chocolate and mix well to combine.

8. Once completely cool, frost the top of the cupcakes using a small angled spatula or pipe if you prefer. Sprinkle the tops with whatever you have chosen for decoration!