And so I think it’s time for another recipe 😀

There are times when I find it much easier to look around the shelves and cupboards at home, to find the inspiration on what to bake next. This is one of those recipes. The bottle of Tia Maria has been open for a while and it just seemed a great idea to put it in a bake. I am also doing a linking with http://www.kerrycooks.com and http://www.tinandthyme.uk June’s  #weshouldcocoa linky. 

This makes about 24 cupcakes. Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4, 180c

For the Cupcakes –

200g Soft Butter

240g Light Brown Muscavado Sugar

4 beaten eggs

150g Dove Farm Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

30g Cocoa

30g Ground Almonds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

6 – 8 tablespoons Tia Maria

8 tablespoons double cream

1 tablespoon golden syrup

For the buttercream –

150g soft butter

300g sifted icing sugar

1 teaspoon instant coffee, dissolved in a 1/2 teaspoon of hot water, mixed with 1 teaspoon Tia Maria

2 Tablespoons Double Cream

Firstly sift the flour, cocoa, ground almonds and baking powder together, set to one side. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, slowly pour in the beaten eggs. You may need to add some of the ray mix at this point in case the mix curdles. Then fold in the dry mix and then whisk in the Tia Maria, cream and syrup until all incorporated. Divide then between the empty cupcake cases and bake for about 25-30 minutes.  Try placing some dried rice (or dried pulses ie lentils) in the base of the cake mould before adding the cases. This will soak up any grease – a little tip from my Twitter friend @Becksbake which works really well 😊 Once cooked remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

For the buttercream whisk the soft butter and icing sugar together and then stir in the dissolved coffee, Tia Maria and cream. Use them to decorate the cooled cupcakes. Decorate as you would like. I used some chocolate drops.

Enjoy – quickly though as Gluten Free cakes have a very short life!