Cupcakes with chocolate ganache cream

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup very soft butter
• 7 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 - 2 tsp vanilla extract
• A few tablespoons of whole milk
• About 1 and 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar, or instant royal icing in 1-2 tablespoons of water
• 200g chopped dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), or 3/4 cup chocolate chips mixed with 2 tbsp heavy cream

For the glaze:

• Food coloring paste (I use reddish purple)
• Golden chocolate drops (or any chocolate coated drops)
• 1 serving chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
• Additional equipment: 1 x 12-cup muffin tin or 3 x 12-cup mini muffin tins, plus appropriately sized paper liners

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 205°C.
   
   For the cupcakes: Place all muffin ingredients except milk in a food processor and blend well. Then pour in the milk and blend again until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the wells of a large muffin tin or into three smaller muffin tins.
2. Bake large muffins for about 15-20 minutes, and small muffins for about 10 minutes, though keep a close eye on the smaller ones. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.
   
   For the glaze: For royal icing, mix powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of recently boiled or cold water (according to package directions) until you have a smooth, spreadable paste. In either case, add the water gradually; the icing shouldn't be runny, and nothing is more annoying than having to sift the powdered sugar again and add more water to thicken it.
3. Just a tiny bit of food coloring (in my case, as I said, it's reddish-purple) will be enough for a rich color. You can always add more food coloring if desired, but again, it's important to avoid adding more powdered sugar.
   
   And if you were too clumsy and made the icing too dark, then make some more plain white icing and add it to make the dark batch lighter.
4. Using a sharp knife, trim off any excess frosting from the cupcakes, then spoon the icing over each cupcake until the surface is thick and smooth. Alternatively, use a pastry bag to decorate. Let the icing set for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle with gold beads or other embellishments of your choice.
   
   Chocolate ganache: Place both ingredients in a saucepan, set it over low heat, and heat until the chocolate melts. Beat with a hand or electric mixer (whichever is more convenient and preferable) until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Spoon onto the finished cupcakes and smooth out the mixture. Let sit for a couple of minutes until the ganache sets slightly, then decorate as desired.
   
   Yield: Enough frosting for 12 regular-sized cupcakes