Strawberry Malt Shake Cupcakes

Here in Ireland, there are a few American style diners, the biggest chain used to be Eddie Rocket's before there was a big fallout and the franchises fell to pieces. Now, the only Eddie Rocket's restaurants are near to Dublin, our capital.

There used to be an Eddie Rocket's in Limerick (which is Ireland's third largest city) and they used to make absolutely sinfully delicious malted milkshakes. But now the new franchise has taken over, it's just not the same.

I decided to capture my delight in these malty pink delights my making a super fluffsome fairy cake topped off with swirls of super pink strawberry flavoured Ermine icing. You can use any kind of icing recipe you like, as long as you follow the instructions below to make it strawberry malt flavoued.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires the ability to make icing

TIME

About an hour

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

12 vanilla cupcakes, in pink paper cases

1 pounds (455 grammes) cupcake icing of your choice, prepared as below

Strawberry milkshake powder, for icing

Barley malt extract, for icing

Pink decorations

6 pink paper straws

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METHOD

Make a good cupcake icing of your choice, such as traditional buttercream or Swiss meringue buttercream, but replace a quarter of the sugar with strawberry milkshake powder. Add some barley malt extract to the icing a teaspoon at a time to your taste, and beat very well. Adjust the consistency of the icing with milk or cream.

Fit a piping bag with a closed-star nozzle, and pipe swirls or roses on top of your 12 cakes. A pound (455 grammes) of icing is enough to generously ice 12 cakes, but if you're in doubt you can make another half a pound (225 grammes). Decorate with pink sprinkles or dragées, and then cut the paper straws into halves or thirds to decorate the cakes.

STORAGE
These will keep an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.