Recipe: Sticky Treacle & Pecan Cupcakes {Coles Packet Cake Mix Hacks}

Summary: I am back with yet another cake mix hack for you! If you haven’t been following along, it all started with this post. You guys kept asking for more cake hack flavours and I have been happy to oblige, you’ll find a whole heap of links to posts with different flavours at the end of the original post. This particular flavour was born out of the need to wear off some nervous energy with a quick bake and not having a lot on hand. Necessity is the mother of invention and all. After rummaging through the fridge and pantry, I thought I’d do a riff off the American classic, Pecan Pie.

My Sister is mildly obsessed with treacle, so I always have it to hand, though a dark molasses would do nicely (in fact some will say they are the same but that’s another matter). As I suspected it gave the cake a lovely warm, caramelly, toffee like flavour that pairs so beautifully with delicate pecans. I had half a bag of pecans left over from something else but if you need to buy pecans, I reckon there’s about 70gm between the chopped nuts in the cake and the one atop each cake. I love how the vanilla frosting works with the cake, it was definitely the right choice. While the richness of the cake softens the treacle into those caramel tones, the splatters of treacle remain smokey and add a wonderful counterpoint to the overall sweetness. And this is a sweet but delicious cupcake!

Ingredients

• 1 Coles 75c butter cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup treacle
• 3 tblsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Frosting & Toppings 

• 250g salted butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 tblsp milk
• 12 pecan halves
• 1-2 tsp treacle

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper patty pan liners.
2. Choose 12 nice pecan halves for the topping to set aside and chop the other others until you have 1/3 cup for the cake.
3. In a large bowl, add the cake mix followed by the eggs and milk, treacle and oil. Whisk together until smooth and glossy. Stir in chopped pecans. Divide the batter between the 12 patty pans.
4. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a rack before frosting.
5. To make the frosting: Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl & electric beaters) and beat until the butter is pale.
6. Add half the icing sugar and half the milk and vanilla and beat on low until incorporated. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat on low until incorporated. Beat on high for at least 5 mins, until smooth and fluffy.
7. Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip & pipe frosting on to the cakes.
8. Drizzle with treacle and top with a pecan half.