Tim Tam Pineapple Chocolate Cupcakes

Wikipedia describes Tim Tams as chocolate biscuits ‘composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate’. I’ll describe it as sheer delight! (if you don’t already know ) It is actually dessert by itself. Because there are batch after bath of sweet things coming out of my kitchen almost everyday, I normally do not buy a lot of cookies, cupcakes and such from outside. The only ones I would pickup are the Oreos and the Tim Tams. I love how easy they both are to crush and just add as toppings to various things i.e if not eaten away directly. In this recipe I’ve inserted one third a piece of Pineapple flavored Tim Tam biscuit into the chocolate cupcake batter and another third, crushed and on top of the frosting.

Now let me tell you what this will taste like. It tastes like a triple chocolate fudgy cupcake with a burst of pineapple flavour in the centre and crunchy chocolate-y bits melting out of the frosting. The pineapple filling is such a great addition without having to make any of your own flavored buttercream or a fruit curd (like we do with lemon cupcakes). By the way, this is not a sponsored post! There is barely a thing not to like about these cupcakes and since they are pretty easy too I wanted to share my little delicious experiment with you like I always do. It’s a no-brainer but a must make for Chocolate lovers.

Tim Tam Pineapple Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 16 cupcakes

1/2 cup (50 gms) dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
11/3 cups (175 gms) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (113 gms) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 gms) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 packet (165g) Pineapple Timtams

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

120 gms unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 gms) unsalted butter, room temperature
11/3 cups (160 gms) icing sugar sifted
11/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C (170 degrees C for fan-forced ovens). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling water and cocoa powder. let cool to room temperature. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips.
Then in the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter, insert 1/3 of a piece of Tim Tam cookie in the middle and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will come out dry). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a small spatula or pipe lovely swirls. Crush a few Tim Tam cookies between your fingers (or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin) and decorate on top of frosting.
These cupcakes are best the day they are made but can be stored for a few days.

To make the chocolate fudge frosting : Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 min). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy(about 2 min). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2-3 min).