ANZAC Cupcakes (or Golden Syrup & Oat Cupcakes)

I know, I know. I’m nearly a week late. ANZAC Day, Australia’s national day of remembering our past and present military personnel since World War I was on Thursday, 25th April and I really had intended on making ANZAC biscuits but we just got too busy. When I was discussing the possibility of making some ANZAC biscuits, my son suggested we make an ANZAC cake. Really? What did he know? He’s only 6. He explained in great detail that we could have a nice soft cake with coconut and golden syrup and iced with icing and coconut. Sounded pretty good to me.

This was my basic No Fuss Fudge Cake recipe. You know the no fail, no fuss recipe I use for just about every cake. I added 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of coconut and 1/4 cup of golden syrup (you could use maple syrup or honey if you don’t have golden syrup). I iced with a simple buttercream which had a tablespoon of golden syrup added. AND I finally got around to trying a quick way to ice cupcakes. I used a small ‘melon ball’ sized ice cream scoop to scoop out the icing, ‘blob’ (that’s a new technical term) it on to the centre top of the cupcake and press http://myuda.com/profile/Brobby/ down into the coconut which is in a small bowl. I then just spread by lightly pressing down on the icing with a knife. Turned out perfectly round on the cupcake.

These weren’t so ‘cake like’ but more ‘muffin like’ because of the oats but ‘delicious’ (as judged by the boy) nonetheless. I’m sorry I’m late but I guess we all make ANZAC biscuits all year round. I reckon we could make these anytime of the year too.

ANZAC Cupcakes (or Golden Syrup & Oat Cupcakes)

• 1 and half cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup golden syrup
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 6 tablespoons oil (I use canola)
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• half teaspoon salt

Golden Syrup icing:

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbs butter, softened
• 1 tbs golden syrup
• milk (approx 1 tbs at a time until a stiff, spreadable consistency)
• Coconut to sprinkle

1. Turn oven to 180 C (375 F). 
2. Mix the flour, coconut, oats, sugar and water in a bowl. 
3. Add golden syrup, vanilla, vinegar, oil, baking soda and salt. 
4. Mix with beaters until smooth. (Mixture is runny.) 
5. Pour into cupcake papers. Bake approx 20 minutes. 
6. Ice when cooled. 
7. Mix all ingredients together for icing and sprinkle with coconut.

Oat Choc Chip Slice (with Olive Oil)

Baking day today and needed something for the kid’s lunch boxes. E is such a fuss pot and won’t eat dried fruit so it has to be pretty basic and at least a little bit healthy. No nut policy exists at both School and Kindergarten so no nuts either.

This was a recipe I found on the Simple Savings Forum but I substituted the 125gm butter with 125gm of Olive Oil. Fat is fat and I’m not sure it’s any healthier but it still produced a lovely golden slice with a crunchy texture. Got the seal of approval from the kids so that’s the main thing.

Oat Choc Chip Slice (with Olive Oil)

1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup choc chips
1 tsp vanilla
125gms olive oil
1 egg, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a slice tin with baking paper.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the oats, coconut, sugar, and choc chips, stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the vanilla, olive oil and egg. Stir well. Scoop mixture into pan and smooth the surface.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to touch. Set aside to cool.