Espresso Cupcakes

I have borrowed Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess" for awhile. Hence I think it's high time for me to try some of the recipes in the book. Actually quite a few of them caught my eyes, but I decided to go for something simple first. The Espresso Cupcake, for instant, for a start.

The recipe requires self-rising cake flour which I couldn't find here. So I substitute it with cake flour + baking powder + salt, as recommended by the baking911 website. The recipe also calls for instant espresso powder, melted chocolate and cocoa powder. It seems like a winner recipe to me.....And so I proceed. After 1 hour, this is what I get:

This is the inside of the cupcake with the small piece of chocolate I inserted in the centre:

Overall, the cupcake tastes a bit bitter, a bit dry and a bit burnt. Probably because they were left too long in the oven. Unfortunately, not a very good first impression with the cookbook Diva who takes other part of the world by storm...I am sure it must be the user error..... I am still determine to give other recipes in the book a try. Well, maybe some other time.

But I don't have to wait too long. Because our friend Adeline actually asked me to make a batch with her yesterday for her labmate's birthday...Errr, ok. So maybe the cupcake is not as bad as I have described. Anyway, we baked a batch yesterday with a special finish touch. The M&M was my idea, the smiley face's hers.