spicy love yummies

I baked these for Valentine's - nothing more, nothing less, but a sweet treat is always nice, right? Right - a version of the classic Swedish cake "kärleksmums" (love yum or love yummies) I guess. A simple chocolate sponge cake traditionally baked in a roasting pan - I remember my mum made them for our class parties in the lower grades - with a chocolate-coffee frosting and sprinkled with coconut. They usually go down a treat. I've been meaning to bake them in a tin for ages, but never gotten around to it. Same went for the heartshaped muffin tin, I rarely use it.

So I let them team up for Valentine's and did these. And spiced the recipe up with adding chili powder. Here's how you bake them - from the batter I got 6 large heart muffins and 6 small, regular ones in paper tins.

S p i c y   l o v e   y u m m i e s
2 organic free-range eggs
170 g caster sugar
270 g wheat flour
3 tbsp cacao
1 tsp chili (I think a tad more would have been even nicer)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
170 g liquid butter/oil
100 (soy) milk

Icing:
40 g liquid butter/oil
130 g icing sugar
2 tbsp cacao
3 tbsp strong coffee (I mix instant coffee with warm water)
plus sprinkle of choice (coconut is the classic one)

:: Whip the egg and caster sugar until fluffy and pale.
:: Sift the wheat flour, cacao, vanilla sugar, baking powder and chili into the mix. Blend carefully. Add the liquid butter/oil and the milk and stir.
:: Pour the batter into the muffin tin or paper tins (which often do well with being supported by a muffin tin of course). Fill the tins halfway.
:: Bake in 175C for about 20 minutes.
:: Let the muffins cool completely on a rack before icing them.
:: Prepare the icing by sifting the cacao and icing sugar together and adding the liquid butter/oil and coffee. Whip it until smooth and glossy. Then spread the icing evenly on top of every muffin. Sprinkle the sprinkle of choice.



There, ready to be devoured by someone you heart.