Chocolate and Chunky Banana Cupcakes with Banana Icing

These Chocolate and Chunky Banana Cupcakes are a real treat.  The cupcake is a moist dark chocolate cake, with chocolate chips and chunks of banana mixed through.  The icing has the most delicious banana flavour (from real bananas!) and perfectly compliments the dark chocolate of the cake.  This is a great recipe to use up any bananas you have lying around.

Makes 12 – 18.

Ingredients:Cupcakes:
2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup milk chocolate chips (I used Nestle Choc Drops)
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
1 cup plain yoghurt
½ cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 medium sized ripe bananas, roughly mashed (you want chunks)
Icing:
130g butter
¼ cup mashed bananas
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
3 ¼ cups icing sugar
Banana candies for decoration (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line a muffin tray with cupcakes liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and baking soda. 
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg, yoghurt, milk and vegetable oil together until smooth.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined.  Mix through the banana.
Fill the prepared muffin cups so they are ¾ full.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out cleanly.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing and to decorate:
Cream together the butter, banana, lemon juice and vanilla essence.  Slowly beat in icing sugar, adding more if needed to make a nice fluffy, spreadable icing.  If the mix is too thick, beat in a few drops of warm water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes and top with the banana candies.

Pineapple and Coconut Muffins

It’s now Autumn here in New Zealand and it is starting to get a bit cooler in temperature.  But, these Pineapple and Coconut Muffins are the perfect way to add a bit of sunshine back into your life and beat of the Winter blues.  The recipe is made using tinned pineapple, so you can make these all year round and I think they would make a great lunchbox treat.  The pineapple, coconut and yoghurt all work together to give these muffins a light, fresh taste.  The crunchy coconut topping is pretty delish too!

Ingredients:
1 ⅔ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g desiccated coconut
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup brown sugar
100ml canola or sunflower oil
250g plain, unsweetened yoghurt
1 tablespoon milk
250g crushed pineapple, drained

Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup shredded coconut

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers, or grease well.
In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder and coconut together. 
In a large bowl mix together the egg, sugar, oil, yoghurt and milk.  Add in the pineapple and stir through.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin cases.  Sprinkle brown sugar, followed by the shredded coconut over the top of each muffin.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin can be removed cleanly.

Kumara and Bacon Mini Muffins

I made these Kumara and Bacon Mini Muffins a few weeks ago when we had a long weekend.  We were away with my parents ‘up North’ and I wanted something that I could snack on when I was feeling peckish.  Mum usually has chips and dip, along with crackers and cheese on hand, which I wanted to avoid.
The muffins had a nice savoury flavour to them and were delicious heated a little with a smear of butter (yeah, I could’ve just eaten the chips and dip).  I think they would also make a great snack to take to work or school in the lunchbox.  Mum reckoned they would be great made in a jumbo muffin tin (cooking times would differ) with a green salad for a lunch or light dinner.  Keep this recipe in mind for after Christmas too – you could swap out the bacon for leftover ham.

Makes 24.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups self raising flour
½ teaspoon rubbed parsley
½ teaspoon sweet basil
½ teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup grated cheese
2 – 4 rashers bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
1 cup milk
1 egg
30g butter, melted
1 cup mashed kumara (I used orange kumara, but whatever variety is your fave will be fine)
¼ cup sunflower seeds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Grease 2 x 12 hole mini muffin trays.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, parsley, basil, curry powder, sugar, salt, cheese and bacon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and butter.  Add the whisked mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the mashed kumara.  Mix together until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin holes and sprinkle the sunflower seeds over the top.  Bake for 10 –12 minutes or until golden.

Olive, Salami and Cream Cheese Muffins

These muffins were created out of stuff we had left over in the fridge.  I wanted to make something savoury that we could take as morning tea to work.  There was a container of olives and half a block of cream cheese left over from various salads we had made and I had a packet of salami waiting to be used in a pasta dish I kept putting off making because it needed tomatoes and they have been so expensive lately!  So, I made these muffins and they were a hit.  Simon loved them.  I couldn’t lazily put off photographing them because we both wanted to eat them!

Ingredients:
1 egg
220ml skim milk
¼ cup olive oil
1 ¾ cups self raising flour
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
½ cup salami, chopped into small pieces
½ cup cream cheese, broken into small chunks

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin.
Beat together the egg, milk and olive oil.  Mix through the flour.  Fold through the olives, salami and cream cheese.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared muffin holes.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre a one of the muffins can be removed cleanly. 

Banana, Bran and Walnut Muffins

I was really surprised by these muffins.  I think of bran muffins as boring little rock cakes – a dense lump and not at all appealing.  But, in an effort to make something not so sweet and a tad more healthy, I gave some a go.  The surprising part is that I love the result.  You can taste the bran a bit, but the banana flavour is there, stopping the muffins from being bland, and in every mouthful you get some slightly crunchy walnut bits.  The thing that surprised me the most is that the muffins still have that crumbly cake texture that I thought I was going to sadly be missing.  I am really happy with these muffins;  I don’t feel guilty eating one for morning tea (or breakfast – I’m writing this post before having breakfast and trying to describe the muffins talked my brain into making me go get one!), they are soft, moist and have a cakey texture, and they have the perfect banana flavour.  Oh, and I made them so they are a simple beat the wet ingredients together, mix through the dry ingredients, pour them in the tins and back recipe.  Really quick. 
I was going to mix through some Chia seeds but completely forgot, so if you try that addition (a couple of tablespoons maybe?) let me know how they go.  I now have bran in the cupboard so I’m going to be experimenting with more recipes soon!

Makes 12.

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed banana
2 tablespoons oil (vegetable, sunflower or canola)
2 eggs
100g butter, melted
½ cup milk
1 cup bran
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, beat together all the wet ingredients (the banana down to the milk on the list).  Add in the dry ingredients, excluding the walnuts, and mix through to make a smooth batter.  Fold through the walnut pieces.
Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin tin holes and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin can be removed cleanly.
Remove from the oven and leave standing in the tin for 5 minutes, before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

Pizza Muffins

These are yum.  And pretty healthy for baking too.  I like the pineapple in them.  Simon loved them too and we both enjoyed taking them to work as snacks to have at morning tea.

Ingredients:
2 – 3 rashers of bacon, cooked, rind removed
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup milk
3 teaspoons tomato sauce
1 egg, beaten
100g butter, melted
225g can pineapple pieces in juice, drained

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line a 12 muffin tin.
Cook the bacon, remove the rind, then cut into small pieces.  Set the bacon aside.
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients, including the cheese.
Roughly chop up the pineapple pieces.  In a medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, including the pineapple and bacon.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix lightly until combined. 
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the muffins are lightly golden.  Leave to cool in the pan for five minutes before leaving them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Raspberry and Vanilla Mini Muffins

These Raspberry and Vanilla Mini Muffins are so cute, and so yummy!  They are quick and easy to make and are a great little treat.

Makes 24.

1 ½ cups self raising flour
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 cup reduced fat vanilla yoghurt
80g reduced fat margarine or butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ cup frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease two 12 hole mini muffin tins.
Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add the yoghurt, margarine, egg and vanilla to the flour and stir until combined.
Roughly chop the raspberries, and then fold through the mixture.
Fill the muffin holes with the mixture.  Bake for approximately 18 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are golden.  Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  If you like, dust with icing sugar before serving.

ANZAC Muffins

Last year I made  ‘Gooey Caramel ANZAC Slice’ and Mel made ‘ANZAC biscuits’, it was about that time that I saw a few ANZAC muffin recipes, I put off making them so I could share them with you all closer to ANZAC day 2013. These muffins are best served fresh and in my opinion would work well as breakfast/brunch food.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup rolled outs
1 egg
3/4 cup warm milk
50g butter, melted
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/4 cup rolled oats for top
1/4 cup brown sugar for top

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.
In a large bowl place melted butter and milk heat to warm in the microwave (15-20 seconds).
Add golden syrup and egg, whisk to combine.
Place all your dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
Create a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Spoon into cases and top with rolled oats and brown sugar.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, best served warm.

Pear, Walnut and White Chocolate Muffins

These Pear, Walnut and White Chocolate Muffins are delish; the pear makes them really moist and the walnut and white chocolate compliments the fruit perfectly.  We had some pears sitting around going uneaten, but once transformed into these muffins, they were gone in a flash!  My Nana tried them while she was up in Auckland over Christmas and I have had to send her the recipe too.

Ingredients:
½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup flour
⅓ cup wholemeal flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup plain yogurt
1 large egg
1 ½ cups finely diced peeled pears
½ cup white chocolate bits
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease or line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Stir in the walnuts and make a well in centre of mixture.
Combine the brown sugar, oil, vanilla essence, yogurt and egg in a small bowl.  Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.  Fold in diced pear and white chocolate.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.  Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the muffin batter.  Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when touched lightly in centre.  Leave to cool in the muffin tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

I made these Strawberry Shortcake muffins the other week and took them around to share with my family and Grandparents who had just arrived in the country for a holiday with us from Australia.  They all got devoured.  The muffins are buttery and fluffy, just heavenly.  You can finish the muffins by dusting them with icing sugar or go a step further and top them with freshly whipped cream.  What a gorgeous way to enjoy such a delicious Summer fruit!

Makes 12

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg
1 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 – 1 ½ cups strawberries, diced

Topping:
Icing sugar, for dusting
3 strawberries, cut into quarters
¼ cup cream, whipped

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Using your fingers, pinch in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
In small bowl mix the egg, cream and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with spoon until just combined. Gently mix through the diced strawberries.
Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden on top. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Once completely cooled, dust with icing sugar or top with fresh whipped cream, a strawberry segment and a dust of icing sugar.

Hot pink gingham baking cups c/o The Pretty Baker.

Lunchbox Bakes - Bacon, Cheese and Chive Muffins

These savoury muffins are perfect for brunch/lunch. I whipped up a batch in no time and they are delicious! This recipe makes 6 good size muffins so if you are serving a larger crowd and you want to make a dozen you will need to double it.

Ingredients:
4 rashers of streaky bacon
30 grams butter
2 tablespoon fresh chives, finely cut
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
1½ teaspoons sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C, spray or line your muffin tin with papers.
Fry bacon until it is well cooked and slightly crispy, set aside to cool.
Melt butter and set aside.
Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a fork so you can ‘fluff’ it up. Make a well in the centre of the bowl.
Place egg and milk in a small bowl and whisk.
Pour egg and milk mix and butter and chives into the well in your dry mix and combine using a wooden spoon.
Add cheese and bacon and mix with your spoon so that it is distributed evenly.
Place even scoops of mixture in your muffin tins (you can top with a little bit a grated cheese if you wish) and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a skewer can be removed cleanly.
Once cooked remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

For more healthy recipes and lunch ideas check out our Lunchbox Bakes page!

Hidden Treasure Muffins

Ahoy matey!  I thought these Hidden Treasure Muffins would be a bit of fun for kids, or those young at heart.  When I was younger I used to save all the gummy lollies until the end of my bowl when I had Goody Goody Gum Drops ice cream.  It was kinda fun seeing how many you’d get (and a bit of a competition between my brother and I).  I had an idea to do something similar with muffins.  Inside, these muffins have jelly beans and gummy lollies or, what I like to think of as ‘hidden treasure’.  How many of hidden ‘gems’ can you find? 

2 cups self raising flour
½ teaspoons cinnamon
¾ cup sugar
300g sour cream
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 bananas, mashed
⅔ cup jelly beans
12 jube / gummy lollies

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line 12 muffin tin holes.
Place the flour, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl and mix.
Put the sour cream, egg, oil and mashed banana in another bowl and mix together.  Add to the dry ingredients, along with the jelly beans, and stir to combine.
Spoon the mixture evenly between the prepared muffin tins until they are half full.  Place a gummy lolly on top of the batter in each tin, then cover with the remaining mixture.
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Aye, shiver me timbers! They look jolly good!

Lunchbox Bakes – Pumpkin Feta Muffins

 
These are delish.  They are super tasty and I will definitely be making them again (especially since there’s heaps of pumpkins waiting to be used up at my house).  Also, aside from the oil that the pumpkin is coated to roast in, there’s no sugar, butter or oil in the muffins :)

Makes 12 muffins

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cubed pumpkin or butternut squash
salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of baby spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro chopped
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds kernels
¾ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
100g feta, cubed
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup milk
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease a 12-hole muffin pan and set aside.
Sprinkle the olive oil and some salt and pepper over the pumpkin and toss well.  Spread the pumpkin in a single layer on a baking tray or roasting pan and bake for 15-25 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside to cool.
Transfer two-thirds of the pumpkin to a large mixing bowl along with the spinach, parsley, sunflower seeds, Parmesan, mustard, and two-thirds of the feta.  Fold the ingredients together.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs and milk together, then add to the pumpkin mix.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper to the pumpkin mix and fold together until the batter comes together.  Be careful not to over mix.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole ¾ full.  Top each muffin with a bit of the remaining squash and feta. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

You can find out more about Lunchbox Bakes and  how you can get involved here.

Doughnut Muffins

The last time I made these little beauties was about a month before Mel and I started blogging about our baking adventures.  I got so caught up in constantly baking something new that I almost forgot about them – I don’t know how, they are delicious!  I whipped these up to take to my friend Dahl who has just had a gorgeous baby girl (Congrats again Barry family xx) along with some mini potato, bacon and cheese frittatas.  Of course I had to keep a couple for Shane and I to taste test and photograph so I could share with you.  The recipe has been adapted by me from ‘The Muffin Bible’.

Ingredients:
1¾ cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
⅓ cup canola oil
¾ cup raw sugar (can use the same amount of white sugar if you don’t have raw)
1 egg
¾ cup milk

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a muffin tray with papers or spray with cooking oil to grease.
In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl mix together oil, sugar, egg and milk.
Add oil mixture to the dry ingredients and combine gently as not to overwork the flour.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tray and place in your preheated oven.  Bake for 15-20 minutes. You will know they are ready when they are golden and the centres bounce back when touched.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon for topping and prepare butter.
While muffins are still warm brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

I think these are best served warm like the doughnuts you can get from your local takeaway but they are still delicious once cool.  Another thing you can try with these (which I didn’t do in this batch) is filling the your muffin tin up with batter to just over half way and then placing a teaspoon of raspberry jam in the middle and then covering mix more muffin batter, this way when you open the muffin up it has a jam filling just like some doughnuts!  Cute huh?!  If you give the muffins a go leave us a comment or if you want to share a picture of them, especially if you give them a jam centre you can email us – bmtbblog@gmail.com or find us on facebook.

Lunchbox Bakes - Pumpkin and Parmesan Mini Cakes

These Pumpkin and Parmesan Mini Cakes are super tasty.  If you don’t have a mini loaf tin you could just make them as muffins.  The cakes are moist enough to eat without having to spread on any butter, cutting out any unnecessary fat.

Makes 6 mini cakes

2 eggs
70ml olive oil
70ml milk
120g flour, sifted
70g Gruyère or cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g pumpkin, grated (squeeze out excess liquid)
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
3 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease the cake mould and dust with flour.
In a bowl lightly beat the eggs with the milk, oil, pumpkin and Parmesan cheese.  Add the flour, Gruyère cheese and sage.  Season with the salt and pepper and stir together.  Mix in the baking powder.
Divide the mixture into the tins then bake for about 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out cleanly.  Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

If you want to take part in Lunchbox Bakes, check out our Lunchbox Bakes page for more details.  We will feature a link to your blog post at the bottom of our next Lunchbox Bakes post!

Lunchbox Bakes – Pesto and Feta Muffins

These are quick and easy to make.  While they were intended as a healthy lunchbox food, I was a bit naughty and ate a few heated up with a little bit of butter spread on them for afternoon tea when I got home for work.  We didn’t have enough pesto in the fridge so I topped it up with some of that pesto dip you can buy with the nuts in it.  The little bits of cashews were quite tasty in the muffins so if you like the nuts you could go ahead and make the entire quantity of pesto the dip variety.

½ cup pesto
¾ cup water
1 egg
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
100g feta, crumbled or cubed
1 cup grated cheddar

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line 10 – 12 muffin tin holes.
Stir the pesto into the water then mix with the remaining ingredients until just combined.
Spoon into the muffin bans and bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

Want another recipe to use up any left over feta?  This week for lunchbox bakes we were joined by:

• Kara of Kara’s Cakes who made Caramelised Onion and Feta Tarts.

Remember you can also take part in Lunchbox Bakes. Check out the Lunchbox Bakes page for more information.

Lunchbox Bakes - Bacon and Corn Muffins

1 egg
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup creamed corn
1 cup grated cheese
2 rashers bacon, cooked and chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line or grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
Make the egg up to ¾ cup with water.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spoon into the prepare muffin tin and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

For information on how you too can take part in lunchbox bakes, check out our lunchbox bakes page.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

These were delicious – they didn’t last long at my house!  I wanted to make them after trying a Lemon Poppy Seed muffin at a cafe.  The muffin was nice, but it wasn’t anything special; just a plain muffin.  I jazzed mine up a bit which made them super cute and taste just that much more amazing.

Makes 12

150g butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
rind and juice of 2 lemons
125g sour cream
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powders
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons poppy seeds

To decorate (optional):
3 – 4 tablespoons lemon curd
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
¼ cup candied lemon peel (recipe will be up on Wednesday)

Icing:
1 ¾ cup icing sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 12 hole standard muffin tin with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar, then stir in the remaining ingredients until just combined.  Spoon into the prepared muffin cases evenly and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack.

So, there you have it.  You could just eat these little babies now, or…

You could decorate them…

Once cool, inject each muffin with lemon curd.
Mix the butter, lemon zest and vanilla together until all lumps are gone.  Add the milk and quickly cream it into the butter mixture.  Mix in the sugar half a cup at a time and then cream on high for 2 minutes.  Mix in the lemon juice.  Pipe or spread the icing evenly over the cupcakes.
Sprinkle the tops with some extra poppy seeds and place 3 – 4 pieces of candied lemon peel on top.

What do you reckon?  Much better.