Nothing makes me happier than to see people get all excited and smile when you give them cake. Of course, the compliments that follow it don't hurt the ego either. This was certainly the case today at work when I brought in neenish cupcakes!

There were a few Michael Jackson jokes about it being black or white, but all around joy with the taste. Some lucky people even got seconds!

I'm not too sure about the chocolate half, I had to add extra milk as it was just too try to mix in the cocoa. If you make these, I'm sure you will see what I mean. But they look good, and taste pretty good too, so what more could you want?

Neenish Cupcakes

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

White Icing
1 1/2 ups icing sugar, sifted
10g unsalted butter

Chocolate Topping
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan-forced. Line 16 standard muffin holes with paper cases.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together with electric beaters until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flours alternately with the milk. Divide the mixture in half and stir the cocoa through one half of the mixture until well combined. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly into half of the cases. Then divide the plain mixture into the other half, so that each case is filled with half chocolate and half plain mixtures. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

3. To make the white icing, place the icing sugar and butter in a small heatproof bowl. Stir in enough warm water to form a smooth paste. Sit the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat. Spread the icing over the white side of each cake.

4. To make the chocolate topping, place the chocolate in a small bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted. Spread the chocolate over the other half of the cake.

Makes 16.

Voila! Bon Appétit!