Apparently I have to preface this blog with a picture of the compelted product, simply because the stupid message board on the contest FB page keeps telling me that there's an error with uploading my picture. Hopefully the thumbnail on the link to my blog counts... I'd hate to be disqualified for not having posted the actual photo. Pleeeeeease, competition organisers, pleeeeeease... show me some mercy!!!
ZOMG!!! I totally forgot about this until I was was having a fat week and reading a weight loss blog today (heh. I love irony. I said IRONY, not IRONING!!!).
Also, please forgive the formatting. I wrote the draft in Outlook on 2 different computers, and... well, it decided to do its own thang. Wow, it really is. No matter how many times I highlight the text and change the font size, the font size I am typing in remains smaller than the stuff that came in the email. Plus the margins are all up the creek.
Ok, I may have figured out the font problem. Maybe.
You can enter any time through June 15, 2011 (I don't know whether this is inclusive, but for us Australians, Kiwis and various islanders leading the charge towards the International Date Line, that level of detail probably won't be an issue).
Last but not least, you have to complete the entry form, the link to which is available at cupcakeproject.com.
Pretty self explanatory - Get out your favourite red mixing bowl.
Cream butter and sugar. Eat some because you have no self control at all.
Add eggs, add milk and flour alternately in 3 batches and stir until smooth. Stare at the batter, thinking "I'm surprised they didn't use brown sugar in this recipe. That would have made it a richer colour and less sweet" and then realise you haven't added the warmed treacle (zap it in the microwave, ten seconds at a time, until it is sufficiently runny to part company with the bowl easily). Add warmed treacle. Lick treacle spoon. Marvel at how bitter it is, yet what a nice flavour it has.
1b. Toast a little under a cup of shredded coconut in a nonstick frypan until lightly browned in places. Watch out - it burns very easily!
3. Zest a lime and toss it through the cocount. Realise during editing how close that typo was to a word that you really hate. Make sure your readers know that you meant "coconut"!
Once cool (unless you're impatient, like me), trim cupcakes down to a good height if need be. Smoosh some vanilla icecream around until you can make it hold the shape you wanted (I used one of those little Pyrex food prep dishes as a mould, and that worked quite well).
Now all you have to do is eat it!
The toasted coconut and lime topping sounds just delicious. It looks beautiful too!
Oooh, this looks so yummy! I adore toasted coconut, and it sounds like it would go super well with ginger and lime. Yum!