Food For Friends | white chocolate and sumac cupcakes

A bit of a sweet Thursday treat to see you through to the end of the week. I made this recently to use my new favourite (and totally random) spice - sumac. Stay with me on this. It's a handy little spice to make friends with.

Sumac's used a lot in Middle-Eastern cooking. Mostly with lamb and dips. It has a slight tangy taste, a bit like lemon, but a bit earthier. An earthy lemon. Weird, right? But delicious. And supposedly the spice of 2013. You heard it hear first, folks.

I'll admit this is a bit of an unusual way to use sumac. It's rarely used in sweet dishes. But tangy sumac really cuts through the sugary-buttery-ness of the white chocolate and vanilla. Adding a bit of zing along the way. And it creates a speckled cake that looks really rather nice.

So, will you be giving this one a try? Or will you be giving it a wide berth? And are there any other weird and wonderful combinations you think I should try?

(And remember this bacon topped cupcake?)

White Chocolate and Sumac Cupcakes

Makes 24

You will need:

200g softened unsalted butter

1 3/4 caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sumac (ground)

1 cup milk

For the frosting:

220g sofened unsalted butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

8 cups icing sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C.  Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

1. Cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caster sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

2. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and sumac.

3. Then it's time to mix the ingredients together. Add a third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on a low speed until combined.  Add half of the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not over beat as this will toughen the mixture.

4. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

5. To make the frosting. Add milk, vanilla, and half the sifted icing sugar. Beat. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add extra milk or icing sugar if needed.

6. Top with white chocolate shavings and try not to scoff them all in one go!