Madeleines au chocolat

I have some free time on my hand today, and so I decided to bake something for my boys since it is also children's day tomorrow. I know chocolate is the must-have ingredient, but I do not want to bake cupcakes today since I will be baking a couple of dozens in the coming few days. I wanted to make something simple and fast so that it wont take up too much of my time. Chiffon cake and madeleines came to mind, and I decided on madeleines eventually because they are bite-size and Julian can bring some along to share with his classmates when they go for their school picnic tomorrow morning.

This is my first time baking chocolate madeleines. I used unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder for the batter, which gives the tea cakes great chocolate flavor. However, because I was a bit stingy on the sugar, they ended up to be a little bitter for little children. I rectified it by dusting them with some powdered sugar, and I think they are divine, at least to chocolate addict like me!

Cars Cupcakes for 5th Birthday

This set of chocolate fudge cupcakes were for a boy who turns 5 today. According to his mother, he is a big fan of Cars, and would really like to have his birthday cakes decorated in this theme. The cupcakes were for his party in school, and the school specifically requested parents to prepare cakes that come with less cream. Thus, in accordance with the instruction from school, I decorated the cupcakes with less buttercream and more fondant. The road makes out the number '5', and the individual cupcakes were decorated with cars and chequered flags toppers. Happy 5th Birthday Torsai!

PS: Pardon me for the photos... it was really late at night when I completed this... the lighting was not good, and I was pretty sleepy too.