Category: chocolate

Football Cake (Soccer Cake)

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For those of you who love football/soccer and cake, this cake is for you!

Ingredients
4 eggs
3 dl (1 1/4 cup) sugar
225 g (7,9 oz) butter (melted)
6 dl (2 1/4 cup) plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa
3 tsp baking powder
3 tsp vanilla sugar
2, 25 dl (1 cup) milk

Green cream cheese buttercream
150 g (5,3 oz) butter (room temperature)
100 g (3,5 oz) cream cheese
300 g (10,5 oz) powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Green food color

Decoration
Green sprinkles (see tip below)
White sugar fondant or white writing icing
Football set with players and goals (see tip below)

How to do it

  • Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 390ºF. Line a roasting tray, size 30×38 cm (12×15 in) to 35×43 cm (14×17 in), with parchment paper.
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs together with sugar for a few minutes until you have a thick and fluffy mixture. I use a stand mixer with a whisk, but you may also use an electric hand mixer.
  • Add the melted butter to the mixture.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
  • Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients and the milk to the mixture, and mix until you have a smooth batter.
Make a fluffy mix of eggs and sugar, then add the melted butter
Add the dry ingredients
Add the milk
  • Transfer the batter to the roasting tray.
  • Bake the cake in the bottom of the oven for 15 minutes, or until a skewer put in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Transfer the batter into the roasting tray
Bake for 15 minutes or a skewer put in the middle of the cake comes out clean

Green Cream Cheese Buttercream

  • Beat the butter until soft.
  • Mix in the cream cheese.
  • Carefully add the powdered sugar, and mix until you a smooth mix.
  • Add the vanilla extract.
  • Carefully mix in green food color until you have the preferred color.
Green Cream Cheese Buttercream
Cover the cake with buttercream

Decoration

  • When the cake has cooled down completely, cover the cake with the green cream cheese buttercream.
  • Cover the buttercream with green sprinkles.
  • Make white lines out of white fondant. (You may also use white writing icing.)
  • Decorate the cake with goals and players.

Football Cake Decoration

Enjoy the game!

Btw:
I used the Dr. Oetker Football Kit (which contains green sprinkles, edible football decorations and white writing icing) and the Cacas Football Set (which contains players and goals). #notsponsored

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Spicy Pear Muffins

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Time to bring back some fruits. These muffins are moist and filled with flavor, and they turned out to be a hit with my father. 

Ingredients
Pear Sauce/Jam
10-12 pears (chopped)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom

Batter
200 g (7 oz) butter (melted)
100 g (3,5 oz) sugar
3 eggs
300 g (10,5 oz) plain flour
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp of cocoa

Frosting/Decoration
Powdered sugar
Vanilla sugar
Cream Cheese
Water

Chopped Almonds

 

How to do it
Pear Sauce/Jam

  • Chop the pears, and put them in a saucepan.
  • Mix in cinnamon and cardamom.
  • Heat up the pears, and let it simmer until much of the fluids has evaporated.
  • Let the sauce/jam cool down a bit.

Batter

  • Preheat the oven to 200 ºC/ 395 ºF.
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  • In a large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until you have a thick and fluffy mixture.
  • Stir in the melted butter.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together plain flour, baking powder vanilla sugar and the spices, then slowly add them to the mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter.
  • Carefully stir in the pear sauce/jam with a wooden spoon.
  • With a couple of spoons, transfer the batter to muffins liners in a cupcake/muffins form.
  • When you’ve transferred about 1/2 of the batter into muffins liners, stir in 2 tbsp of cocoa to the rest of the batter. Then transfer the rest of the batter to muffins liners in a cupcake/muffins form.
  • Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven until they have a golden surface, or until a skewer put in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Take the muffins out of the oven, and let them cool down in the muffins/cupcake form for a few minutes. Then let them cool down on a cooling rack.

Frosting/Decoration

  • Mix together powdered sugar, vanilla sugar (1-2 tsp), cream cheese (about 2 tbsp) and water until you have a smooth, yet fluid, mix.
  • Cover the muffins with the frosting and decorate with chopped almonds.

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Enjoy!

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Red Velvet Valentine’s Cake

Posted in buttercream, cake, chocolate, cream cheese frosting, raspberry, redvelvetTagged , , , Leave a comment

I´m not the biggest fan of Valentine´s Day, but it gives me a good reason to bake. So here’s my version of Red Velvet Cake, with raspberries and two versions of buttercream. Share it with someone you care about, today or some other day!

Ingredients
200 (7 oz) melted butter
200 (7 oz) sugar
3 eggs
300 (10,5 oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa
2,25 dl (1 cup) milk
1 tbsp red food color (no taste)

200 g (7 oz) frozen raspberries

Cream cheese buttercream
50 g (1,8 oz) butter (room temperature)
100 g (3,5 oz) cream cheese
250 g (8,8 oz) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar

Buttercream
150 g (5,3 oz) butter (room temperature)
75 g (2,7 oz) cream cheese
375 g (13,2 oz) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 good squeeze of a slice of lemon

Grated dark chocolate


How to do it

  • Preheat the oven to 200ºC /390ºF.
  • Butter and line 1-3 round cake tins (22 cm/ 9 in) (and/or use parchment paper).
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs together with sugar for a few minutes until you have a thick and fluffy mixture. I use a stand mixer with a whisk, but you may just as well use an electric hand mixer.
  • Mix in about 1/3 of the melted butter, and pour it into the mixture.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla sugar.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients and the rest of the milk to the mixture, and mix until you have a smooth batter.
  • Mix in the red food color. The batter should become bright red.
  • Transfer 1/3 of the batter to (each) cake tin.
  • Bake each layer in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, or until a skewer put in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  • Let the layers cool down on a cooling rack.
Make a fluffy mix of eggs and sugar, then add the melted butter
Add the dry ingredients
Add the milk
  • Heat up the raspberries until boiling point. Let it cool down.

Cream cheese buttercream

  • In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. I use a stand mixer with a whisk.
  • Add the cream cheese and mix well.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and the vanilla sugar. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and cream cheese.
  • Mix until you have smooth buttercream, and transfer to a separate bowl.

Buttercream

  • In a large bowl, beat the butter until it´s smooth. I use a stand mixer with a whisk.
  • Add the cream cheese and mix well.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and the vanilla sugar. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and cream cheese.
  • Add a good squeeze of a slice of lemon.
  • Mix until you have smooth buttercream, and transfer about half of the cake piping tool.

Put it all together

  • When the cake layers are cool, put one layer on a tray. 
  • Make a circle of buttercream around the edges of the layer (this will keep the cream cheese buttercream in place).
  • Cover the layer with half of the raspberries (see picture).
  • Cover the raspberries with half of the cream cheese buttercream (see picture).
  • Sprinkle some grated chocolate over the cream cheese buttercream (see picture).
  • Place the second layer over the first one, make a circle of buttercream around the edges, and cover it with the rest of the raspberries, the rest of the cream cheese buttercream and grated chocolate, just like on the first layer.
  • Place the third layer on top, and cover the entire cake (top and sides) with the rest of the buttercream.
  • I have decorated the cake with three balls of licorice covered in white chocolate, raspberry dust and chili. And a sprinkle heart.

Happy Valentine´s Day!

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Lars´Cupcakes

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Today I had the honor to serve cupcakes for Lars´ christening, and here’s the recipe for you. This recipe makes about 30 regular sized cupcakes and 30 small cupcakes.

Ingredients
400 g (14 oz) melted butter
400 g (14 oz) sugar
6 eggs
600 g (17,5 oz) plain flour
6 tsp vanilla sugar
4 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa
4,5 dl (1 3/4 cup) milk

Buttercream
350 g (12,25 oz) unsalted butter (room temperature)
100 g (3,5 oz) cream cheese
750 g (26,5 oz/ 1 lb 10,5 oz) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
A good squeeze of a thick slice of lemon

How to do it

  • Melt the butter.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and the sugar until you have a white and fluffy batter. I use a stand mixer with a whisk.
  • Stir in half of the milk to the melted butter, and add it to the batter.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and cocoa.
  • Add the mixed dry ingredients to the batter using a strainer. Mix well.
  • Slowly add the rest of the milk to the batter, and mix until you have a smooth batter.
  • Let the batter cool down a bit.
  • Preheat the oven to 200 ºC/ 390 ºF.
  • With a couple of spoons, transfer the batter to cupcake liners in a cupcake form.
  • Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven until a skewer put in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Regular cupcakes take about 15-17 minutes, small cupcakes about 10-12 minutes.
  • Take the cupcakes out of the oven and the cupcake form, and let them cool down on a cooling rack.

Buttercream

  • In a large bowl, beat the butter until it´s smooth.
  • Mix in the cream cheese.
  • Slowly mix in the powdered sugar.
  • Mix in the vanilla extract.
  • Mix in the milk.
  • Add a good squeeze of a large slice of lemon, and mix until you have a smooth mixture.
  • When the cupcakes have cooled down, cover them with the buttercream using a cake piping tool, a knife or a spatula.
  • Decorate the cupcakes with figures made from sugar fondant, sprinkles, berries…

Congratulations to Lars!
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Pistachio Chocolate Cake

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The People have spoken, and Pistachio Chocolate Cake it is! Enjoy!

Ingredients
Cake
200 g (7 oz) chocolate
200 g (7 oz) butter
200 g (7 oz) sugar
4 eggs
150 g (5,25 oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar

Ganache
200 g (7 oz) chocolate
0,5 dl (1/4 cup) heavy cream

Chopped pistachios (I use salted pistachios)

How to do it
Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 225 ºC/ 435 ºF, and butter and line a round cake tin (22 cm/ 9 in).
  • In a medium sized pot, melt the butter and the chocolate on medium heat.
  • Turn off the heat and stir in the sugar.
  • Add the eggs, on at a time.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together plain flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mix and stir until you have a smooth batter.
  • Chop about a handful of pistachios and place it around the sides and the bottom of the cake tin (see picture).
  • Transfer the batter to the cake tin, and sprinkle another handful of chopped pistachios over the batter (see picture).

Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes.

  • Let the cake cool down in the cake tin. When the cake reach room temperature, let it cool completely down in the fridge.

Ganache

  • Pour the heavy cream into a pot on medium heat, and heat it up to about room temperature.
  • Melt the chocolate in the heavy cream, and stir until all the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth mix.
  • Take the pot off the stove, and let the mix cool down until it has thickened a bit, but  still has a fluid texture.
  • Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake, still in the cake tin. (I cover the sides of the cake tin with parchment paper before pouring the ganache over the cake. This makes it a little bit easier to take the finished cake out of the cake tin.)
  • Cover the cake with chopped pistachios (see pictures).

Put the cake back in the fridge, and let the ganache cool down before serving.

  • If you’re not serving the cake immediately, store it in the fridge. About 45-60 minutes before serving the cake, take it out of the fridge and keep it in room temperature until serving.

Enjoy!

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Midnight Munchies – Chocolate Truffles

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2018 is soon to be history, and 2019 is waiting impatiently to make its entrance. But before we do the countdown for the next year, say our “I love you”s and make promises to ourselves that we may or may not keep, here are some chocolate truffles – easy to make, and perfect on the side of tonight’s champagne.

Happy New Year, People!

Ingredients (makes about 25 truffles)
200 g (7 oz) chocolate
1 dl (0,4 cup) heavy cream

Decoration/topping
Chopped pistachios, chopped and roasted almonds, coconut, dried raspberries…

Chocolate and heavy cream
Pistachios, almonds, coconut, dried raspberries

How to do it

  • Melt the chocolate with the heavy cream.
  • Let the mix cool down in a refrigerator.
  • When the chocolate has cooled completely down and has a creamy texture, with a couple of spoons, make small “balls” out of the chocolate, and roll them in/ cover them with the topping you’d like. I’ve used chopped pistachios, chopped and roasted almonds, coconut and dried raspberries.
  • Store the truffles in a cold place until you serve them.

Best wishes for the new year!

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Last Minute Christmas Cookies

Posted in chocolate, christmas, cinnamon, cookies, holidays, licorice, nuts, spiceTagged , , , , Leave a comment

I don´t know why, but somehow Christmas comes as a surprise every year. This year was no exception, so I needed to make some super fast, super easy Christmas cookies. With 3 main ingredients that can easily be mixed with additional/optional ingredients, these cookies are perfect for some last minute baking.

Ingredients
200 g (7 oz) softened butter
100 g (3,5 oz) powdered sugar
400 g (14 oz) plain flour

Additional/optional ingredients
Cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, allspice, chopped chocolate, chopped almonds or other nuts, powdered licorice, cocoa, pearl sugar…

How to do it

  • Mix together softened butter and powdered sugar. I use a stand mixer, but you can also use your hands.
  • Slowly add the plain flour, and mix until you have a smooth dough.
  • Divide the dough into separate pieces, and add any preferred optional ingredients. (I first divided the dough into 2 pieces, then mixed in the spices in one of them. Then I divided the 2 doughs into more pieces, and mixed in chopped chocolate, chopped almonds and powdered licorice to the different pieces.)
  • Roll out the different pieces until they are about 3-4 cm (1,5 inches) diameter, then place them on a cutting board and cover them with plastic foil.

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  • Place the rolls in a cool place for 30-45 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 250 ºC/ 480 ºF, and line a baking sheet.
  • Cut the rolls into cookie sized pieces (about 1 cm thick), and place them on the baking sheet.
  • Bake in the middle of the oven until the cookies start to get a golden surface, about 5 minutes.
  • Let the cookies cool down on a cooling rack.

Merry Christmas!

Cooling Minty Moments – Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

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Winter is here, and it´s cold outside. These cupcakes and their mint chocolate buttercream are perfect for the winter season, and maybe even as a fresh treat during the upcoming Holidays.

Ingredients
175 g (6,2 oz) softened butter
150 g (5,5 oz) sugar
3 eggs
250 g (8,8 oz) plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2,5 dl (1 1/4 cup) milk

Mint Chocolate Buttercream
200 g (7 oz) After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins (melted)
0,5 dl (1/4 cup) milk
100 g (3,5 oz) softened butter
250 g (8,8 oz) powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa

Decoration
Silver pearl sprinkles, candied mint.

How to do it

    1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 390ºF.
    2. Beat together the butter with the sugar in a large bowl. I use a stand mixer, but you may just as well use an electric hand mixer.
    3. Add the eggs, one by one.
    4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
    5. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to the mixture.
    6. Add the milk to the mixture until you have a smooth batter.
    7. With a couple of spoons, transfer the batter to cupcake liners in a cupcake form.
    8. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven until a skewer put in the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean. Regular cupcakes take about 15-17 minutes, small cupcakes about 10-12 minutes.
    9. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and the cupcake form, and let them cool down on a cooling rack.

Mint Chocolate Buttercream

    1. Slowly melt the After Eight chocolates with the milk and some of the butter.
    2. Beat the rest of the butter with the powdered sugar and cocoa in a bowl. Use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer.
    3. Slowly add the melted chocolate mix, and mix until you have smooth mixture.
    4. Let the buttercream cool down.
    5. When the cupcakes and the buttercream have cooled down (about room temperature), cover the cupcakes with the buttercream using a cake piping tool, a knife or a spatula.

Decorate the cupcakes with silver pearl sprinkles, candied mint…

Enjoy!

Salty Tricks or Sweet Treats – Chocolate Cake with Rasperries and Licorice

Posted in berries, cake, chocolate, halloween, holidays, licorice, raspberryTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

A few days to Halloween, and do you want to know one of my (baking) tricks? I very often try to find something slightly bitter to “break” the sweetness of the cakes. Whether it´s adding a few drops of lemon juice to buttercream frosting, or using raspberries with a chocolate cake, I find that adding some bitterness makes the cake taste “fuller”. And to this cake I’ve even added some salty licorice, so prepare to put your taste buds to the test. Salty Tricks or Sweet Treats? Yes, please!

Ingredients
225 gram (7,9 oz) melted butter
3 eggs
3 dl (1 1/4 cup) sugar
6 dl (2 1/4 cup) plain flour
4 tbsp cocoa
3 tsp baking powder
3 tsp vanilla sugar
2, 25 dl (1 cup) milk (and maybe add a little red color to get you in that Halloween mood)

Raspberry cream
2 dl (1 cup) heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
200 gram (7 oz) raspberries
2 tsp licorice powder

Chocolate buttercream
150 gram (5,3 oz) melted chocolate
100 gram (3,5 oz) softened butter
200 gram (7 oz) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
3 tbsp milk/heavy cream

Decoration
Licorice, sprinkles.

How to do it

  • Preheat the oven to 200ºC /390ºF.
  • Butter and line 1-3 round cake tins (22 cm/ 9 in) (and/or use parchment paper).
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs together with sugar for a few minutes until you have a thick and fluffy mixture. I use a stand mixer with a whisk, but you may just as well use an electric hand mixer.
  • Add the melted butter to the mixture.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients and the milk to the mixture, and mix until you have a smooth batter.
  • Transfer 1/3 of the batter to (each) cake tin.
  • Bake each cake/layer in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, or until a skewer put in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  • Let each cake/layer cool.
  • For the raspberry cream: if you use frozen raspberries, heat them to boiling point, and let them boil for a few minutes (this to make sure that the berries don’t contain any bacteria). Let the berries cool to (at least) room temperature.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together heavy cream, sugar and vanilla sugar to whipped cream. Use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. The whipped cream should “well done” rather than fluid (because you´re going to add raspberries, which will bring quite a bit of fluid to the mix).
  • Add the cooled raspberries and blend them in with a spatula.
  • Mix in the powdered licorice with a spatula, and keep the cream in a cool place while making the chocolate buttercream.
  • For the chocolate buttercream: beat the butter and add some of the powdered sugar. Use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer.
  • Mix in the melted chocolate, and then slowly add the rest of the powdered sugar and the vanilla sugar. Then add the milk/heavy cream while mixing until you have a smooth buttercream (it should be quite soft – the buttercream will become stiff when the melted chocolate has cooled down).
  • When the cake layers are cool, put one layer on a tray. Make a circle of buttercream around the edges of the layer (this will keep the raspberry cream in place), then cover the layer with half of the raspberry cream (see picture).

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  • Place the second layer over the first one, and cover it with buttercream and raspberry cream just like on the first layer.
  • Place the third layer on top, and cover the entire cake (top and sides) with chocolate buttercream.
  • Decorate the cake with licorice and sprinkles, or maybe with some fresh raspberries.

Happy Halloween!

Swiss Cupcats – Toblerone Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted in chocolate, cupcake, halloween, holidaysTagged , , , , 1 Comment

Halloween is coming up, but that also means that it´s soon time for a good colleague of mine to move to Switzerland. So in honour of my colleague, I will treat you with my Toblerone Cupcakes, dressed up as cupcats for Halloween. This recipe will give you 50-60 small cupcakes.

Ingredients
135 gram (4,8 oz) melted Toblerone (original or dark)
150 gram (5,3 oz) softened butter
100 gram (3,5 oz) sugar
3 eggs
250 gram (8,8 oz) plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
0,75 dl (1/3 cup) milk

Toblerone buttercream frosting
70 gram (2,5 oz) softened butter
90 gram (3,2 oz) melted Toblerone (original or dark)
2 tsp vanilla sugar
100 gram (3,5 oz) powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk

Decoration
Small Toblerone, sprinkles, raspberries, chopped roasted almonds.

How to do it

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 390ºF.
  2. Melt the Toblerone chocolate.
  3. Beat together the butter with the sugar in a large bowl. I use a stand mixer, but you may just as well use an electric hand mixer.
  4. Add the melted Toblerone.
  5. Add the eggs, one by one.
  6. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
  7. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to the mixture.
  8. Add the milk to the mixture until you have a smooth batter.
  9. With a couple of spoons, transfer the batter to small cupcake liners in cupcake form.
  10. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until a skewer put in the centre of the cupcake comes out clean.
  11. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and the cupcake form, and let them cool down on a grid.
  12. For the buttercream frosting, beat the butter and then add the melted Toblerone.
  13. Use a stand mixer with a whisk or an electric hand mixer. Slowly add the vanilla sugar and the powdered sugar. Then add the milk, and mix until smooth.
  14. When the cupcakes have cooled down, cover them with the buttercream using a cake piping tool, a knife or a spatula.
  15. I have decorated the cupcakes with pieces of small Toblerone (original, dark and white) and orange/gold pearl sprinkles, but why not try with raspberries (fresh or dry) or chopped and roasted almonds.

Happy Halloween and Au Revoir to my colleague!

PS: I´m not sponsored, I just love Toblerone…

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