When is a bun not a bun? Who knows, it all gets rather confusing. Some might call these double chocolate buns American muffins, some cupcakes or maybe even fairy cakes. Whatever you call them, they are easy to make and really delicious.
Bun Definition
For me a bun is generally something sweet and yeasty. A cupcake is a sweet cake with some sort of icing, a muffin is a less sweet cake without the icing (unless it’s an English muffin and then it’s a type of yeasted bread roll). And a fairy cake is a more refined and probably smaller version of a cupcake. But it seems these terms are often used interchangeably.
Going by my definition, these double chocolate buns are somewhere between a muffin and a cupcake. They have no icing, but are sweeter and smoother in texture than a muffin.
How do you define buns, muffins etc? It’s an interesting discussion to have.
GBBO How to Bake
Now we’ve got that one cleared up, I want to say a big thank you to C of Cake, Crumbs and Cooking. Do check out her baking blog if you haven’t already done so.
Quite some time ago she had a giveaway for the Great British Bake Off: how to bake the perfect Victoria sponge*. I was the lucky recipient of the book and it was waiting for me when I got back from holiday – nearly a month ago now. Along with many of you, I’ve been following the Great British Bake Off (via iPlayer) with great interest and enjoyment, so I was doubly pleased to get this book.
As it happens the book only features one recipe from each of the contestants. It does, however, contain the technical challenges as well as a handful of really good step by step “how to make” items such as the perfect Victoria Sandwich.
Most of the recipes come from Linda Collister, who wrote one of my favourite chocolate books Divine. But as far as I can see, she has nothing to do with the programme. All very odd.
This book formed my bedtime reading in September and there are lots of recipes I want to try. However, with time being at a bit of a premium but wanting to make a start, I plumped for these quick and easy double chocolate buns.
Double Chocolate Buns
These “buns” are smooth, not too sweet and all together quite delicious. They’re moist, light and have a nice crunch of white chocolate.
CT managed to sample a few (he always does) and thought they had a melt in the mouth texture and a treacley flavour but without the cloying quality that these sorts of cakes sometimes have.
The book stated that they’re best eaten the same day, but we found they were just as good three days later.
Other Plain Chocolate Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate chilli madeleines
- Henk’s chocolate nut cakes
- Mexican mole muffins
- Triple chocolate buns
- Wensleydale & cranberry chocolate muffins
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these double chocolate buns, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Double Chocolate Muffins. PIN IT.
Double Chocolate Buns – The Recipe
Double Chocolate Buns
Ingredients
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 125 g molasses sugar
- 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (I used homemade)
- 250 g flour (half wholemeal, half white)
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 250 ml mixture of crème fraîche and low fat Greek yogurt.
- 100 g white chocolate chopped into small chunks
- icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Cream butter with sugar until pale and fluffy.125 g unsalted butter, 125 g molasses sugar
- Beat in eggs, one by one.2 large eggs
- Add vanilla extract and beat some more.½ tsp vanilla extract
- Sift in dry ingredients and mix in alternately with crème fraîche and yogurt.250 g flour, 50 g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 250 ml mixture of crème fraîche and low fat Greek yogurt.
- Stir in 100g chopped white chocolate.100 g white chocolate
- Spoon into 15 muffin cases.
- Bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 20 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch.
- Place onto a rack to cool, then dust with icing sugar if desired.icing sugar for dusting
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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Marie says
Hello Choclette,
I made the comment just above, and since then I made your buns several times, only adding a little bit more of sugar. And they really are the chocolate cakes that I enjoyed the most in a very, very long time. So I just wanted to thank you again for sharing this recipe with us, and for all the recipes you bring to us in your blog.
Choclette says
Thank you for your kind words Marie, they are very much appreciated. I’m glad adding a bit more sugar made the difference for you. I think it’s time I made these buns again to remind myself what they were like.
Anonymous says
Hello Choclette,
I just made your buns and they turned out extremely light and very, very good. The only thing about them is that they lacked a bit of sugar. I know you described them in your post as not overly sweet, and that was one of their attractions to me, as I don’t like things with too much sugar. But even to my taste it really missed a little bit of sweetness.
As I can’t find mollasses sugar around here I used the same amount of muscovado instead. Do you think that it can be a good replacement product, or would you suggest something else?
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks for trying them out and sorry you didn’t find them quite sweet enough for you. You can always increase the sugar if you prefer it sweeter and soft brown sugar either light or dark is fine.
JaynesDen says
These look delicious. I will try to make these at the weekend.
BlondeBomber says
At the end of the day, if it’s delicious, why debate? 🙂 If it’s good, eat it! And, these look GOOD! I am a muffin, cupcake, or bun gal! I love them all. I have this fave place in NY for cupcakes though. I love it. I must try these though.
Choclette says
Mozart’s Girl – thank you for your very kind comment. Have really been enjoying hearing what people have to say about this subject and there are some very strong views.
Lady Chutney – yes, it would have been nice if they’d featured all of the recipes. Have you made anything from it yet?
Jill – ha ha – shall remember your definition now – anything with no icing is a bald fairy cake 😉
Jill @ MadAboutMacarons says
loved your definitions and yes, I’ve always been confused between fairy cakes and cupcakes, although I’d say that cupcakes have far more dressings on top – so much that at times, it’s about as much as the cake underneath! The rest are the bald versions.
These buns look delicious and ideal if not too sweet. Now, if we add something wet to it like banana or orange, does that make them muffins? 😉
Great post.
Lady Chutney says
My copy of the British Bake Off book arrived this morning. I have had a quick flick through and was a little disappointed there weren’t more recipes from the show but I am going to have a cup of tea and read it now. I feel I ought to have one of your lovely buns with me while I do it.
Mozart's Girl says
Just found your lovely blog – how did I miss this?? Thanks so much for all your comments on mine, too. What a subject. I would have once interchanged the words ‘bun’ & ‘fairy cake’…muffins (except for the english pullapart & toast kind) didn’t exist when I was a child (I’m only very nearly 45 btw, not ancient!) Nowadays, I would agree with you – my husband will often say he picked up a bun at the coffeeshop – he means something yeasted & iced, probably a danish pastry, chelsea bun or similar. That would be my thought too…a roll is the same, but savoury! Muffins, now, are the huge craggy multi-flavoured sweet American creations with a mushrooming top – really a breakfast/brunch/morning food. Cupcakes are equal or more quantities of swirled uber-sweet frosting than cake. It’s all about the decoration. All about. No one really cares about the cake beneath, despite what they may say…it’s the sprinkles, the sparkles, the sugar flowers, the artfully crafted miniature recreation of the Titanic (or whatever!) Fairy cakes are the British children’s birthday party equivalent. Smaller.Shallower. Often iced with glace icing and decorated with silver balls.The one that most of us born here remember…and they, sadly, look a little pathetic now beside the towering pastel ice-cream swirls of their American usurpers…but I secretly still love them! I can’t sell them, though…people would look at them and label them ‘cupcakes that went wrong’!! Happy Monday xx
Choclette says
C – thanks again for the book. Much appreciated. Glad to find you are VERY clear about what constitutes a muffin etc 😉
YummyChocEats – I always use duck eggs in baking when I can get hold of them. I wrote about the reasons why here – http://choclogblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Duck%20Eggs
Botanical Baker – indeed.
thebotanicalbaker says
Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum. Enough said x
yummychooeats says
I just have to say I’ve never used duck eggs for baking! Have you? Do u think it makes a difference with the result? Lovely buns too! X
C says
Thank you so much for the lovely link! I’m really glad to hear that you’re enjoying the book so much – so am I! These look like a great way to dip your toe into the book too!
I would say a muffin is something made by mixing wet and dry ingredients, a cupcake is a creamed mixture, generally larger than a fairy cake, which I consider to be made in a bun tin, rather than a muffin tin, in terms of size and decorated with buttercream or coloured icing. A butterfly cake is a fairy cake with buttercream and wings, and a bun is a fairy cake with a plain water icing, perhaps decorated with smarties or a piece of Cadbury’s flake, or a cherry. A bread bun is what it says, and not a sweet item – usually used for sandwiches.
Apparently all of these terms mean something very specific for me!!!
Choclette says
MCB – thanks, I think regional is the key to this. Actually I’m pretty sure they are called buns here in Cornwall too.
A Trifle Rushed – ha ha, you have strong opinions about cupcake decorations, I like it. Hope you are enjoying the book.
LittleLoaf – thank you. It is quite useful to know that we are all talking about the same thing, but ultimately you are right of course.
Baking Addict – hard to say about the book as it depends what you are looking for. I was enjoying it, but I’ve now bought Dan Lepard’s Short & Sweet which I think is brilliant.
WLM – to make the grade, chocolatey rich is a bit of a must really 😉
Johanna – I think this discussion has revealed that the naming of buns is indeed a regional thing. I’ve learnt something anyway.
Laura – thank you. Yes little is another good definition – so many to choose from 😉
Gloria – thank you.
Chele – as a white chocolate fan, you’d love these.
Chele says
You had me at double chocolate lol. They look fab.
Gloria says
I love these chocolate buns!! gloria
Laura@howtocookgoodfood says
I like the word “bun” for little cakes as it sounds so British to me, and if they have a different texture to a muffin then it’s fine by me!
These chocolatey buns are gorgeous!
Johanna GGG says
good question – buns for me are small and yeasted but whenever we have plain cupcakes, E always calls them buns which confuses all my family – so maybe it is different in Scotland
Working london mummy says
they look lovely. Interesting discussion, it does seem to vary from region to region what things are called. Still these look yummy and very chocolatey rich!
Baking Addict says
I am impressed they lasted 3 days. I’m with you on the definitions. Would you recommend the book then? I’ve had it on my amazon wishlist for ages.
thelittleloaf says
I think of a bun as something heartier – yeasted dough not baked in a case, while muffins are slightly more moist and dense and cupcakes/fairy cakes are a little lighter. But who cares really? When something looks as yummy as this you can call it what you like!
A Trifle Rushed says
Ooooh! I just bought the book today, but ended up teaching so haven’t had time to try anything yet! One I know which recipe to bake first!
I think a bun is a plain little cake, a fairy cake is the same but with icing, glacé or butter and some sprinkles (100s and 1000s no less) on it. A cup cake is larger, brasher and often over decorated!
MissCakeBaker says
To me a bun is a northern (being a northerner transplanted to the south) fairy cake. A fairy cake is the same as a bun and a cup cake is an American fairy cake! But what’s in a name – these buns look so lovely and choclately!
Choclette says
Jennifer – Glad I’m not too far off then 😉 Do let me know what you think of them if you do make them.
Suelle – thank you, it’s good to get confirmation and whatever these are, they are very good.
Catherine – thank you. That’s what I thought buns were too.
Karen – ha ha, it’s great to have some strong feelings. I do remember you having a rant on your blog about it. A bit of controversy gets things going 😉
Oxslip – thank you. I did wonder if this might be a north south divide think.
Dom – it’s all very confusing, but ultimately you’re right, what’s in a name.
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
yeah, bun for me is always more bready but then those darn Americans have ‘biscuits’ which are essentially scones… who knows… the only truth is if they tasted good, which quite clearly they did!!
oxslip says
It doesn’t matter what they are called, they look yummy!
I think a bun should have yeast, but I spent some of my childhood in Lincolnshire and fairy-buns and butterfly-buns were what we had at parties, (not fairycakes or butterfly cakes). So depends where you’re from, but what’s in a name, a chocolate bun is always sweet
Karen S Booth says
You know I have strong feelings about this topic! LOL! Muffins to me are ONLY the yeast raised ones that are split open and slathered in butter, the ones Americans call English muffins! These look like BUNS to me and I love them! Buns that are yeast risen are called BREAD buns or by their name such as iced buns, Cornish splits, currant buns Sally Lunns etc!! What ever the name may be, these look divine!
Karen
Catherine says
When I think of a “bun” I think of the pastry cream buns, or hot cross buns. These look like muffins to me, but I’m no expert. I’d happily chomp away on them, whatever they are 😀
Suelle says
I think I agree with you on the definitions, Choclette.
These little cakes look good, whatever they are!
Jennifer says
Well, I’m with you regarding what constitutes a bun, cupcake, fairy cake, etc. I often make muffins when I need to make something quickly before the girls come home from school – these buns could be on the menu for tomorrow!
Choclette says
Foodycat – perfect, a good way of describing the differences.
Foodycat says
I think of a bun as a sweet yeasted bread, a muffin is made by taking a dry ingredient mixture and adding a wet ingredient mixture to it, a cup cake is made from a creamed butter and sugar mixture with flour folded in. I have no position on fairy cakes!
But your bun/muffin/cupcakes look absolutely sublime!