Biscotti are a twice-baked italian cookie. Delicately flavoured, crisp and crumbly, they seem to call out to be teamed with a recipe like this: a dense, caramel-sweet cupcake finished with an utterly irresistible, sticky-sweet caramel chocolate ganache. If you have some ganache left over, dunk a spare biscotti in it for an extra-indulgent treat!
muffin pan lined with 12 muffin cases
Makes 12
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/ Gas 4.
Sift together the flours in a bowl.
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Stop occasionally to scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the melted chocolate and golden or corn syrup and mix until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, beating on slow speed until well mixed.
Add the sifted flours and milk in alternate batches, gently folding them in. Do not overmix and be as gentle and brief as possible.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes or until well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
While the cupcakes are cooling down, make the caramel chocolate ganache.
Put the sugar, lemon juice and 60 ml/¼ cup water in a saucepan and stir. Cook over medium–high heat until the sugar dissolves, then cook without stirring until dark caramel in colour, about 7–10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the cream and stir briskly to combine – beware that the sugar syrup will be dangerously hot and will bubble and spit when you pour the cream in.
Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Let cool completely, whisking occasionally (about 1 hour). Refrigerate for 1–2 hours or until firm enough to pipe, whisking occasionally.
Spread the ganache over the cold cupcakes using a spatula. Top with a small biscotti.