One for the boys!

A cupcake enthusiast like me never stops at the perfect chocolate/vanilla. Cupcakes are more than that *wink* Possibilities are endless!My cupcake-ing escapades have often been feminine in terms of design, flavors and compositions... I thought it would be nice to have an entry specially dedicated to the boys. With recent inspirations from a new book I purchased from Gail Wagman, I woke early this morning to compose a unique recipe with the help of some guide lines from her book Cupcak3s Galor3. I stirred-up a mess in my kitchen and produced these glossy morsels of manly-ness!Cupcakes laden with the aroma of beer, spiced with dashes of nutmeg and ginger and topped off with a sticky roasted praline of mixed nuts. I decided to call them "Man enough?" *laughs* It reeks of everything 'Man'; it smells of beer!...It's messy..sticky when moist...soft only on the inside, rough on the surface, not too sweet and a tiny bit spicy!..... *naughty grin*I'm glad I have a full class of grown men to taste test them for me. Aussie boy's love their Beer ('Liquid gold' they call it) and I wanted to see their reactions to beer in a cupcake.

Dylan; the shy "brains" of our class gave them the thumbs up!

Rich-ie; "Sexy dude from Bondi" was impressed.

"Stud-muffin" Scotty reckons I found the key to a man's heart *giggle*

The cupcakes received the nod of approval from the "Cool -biker-hunk" of the classMy Malaysian buddy Wesley Loved the sticky nutty topping.

Pretty and shy Anna, wouldn't let me take a damn photograph! LoL*
I used Carlton Draught for this recipe; but if you can find anything stronger/darker; or your favorite beer; that would work too! Just remember "light" beer...is for girls *wink*

1 full cup strong beer
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup raisins
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarb of soda
1 pinch salt
dashes of ground cinnamon + nutmeg
2 eggs

praline: 1/2 cup melted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup toasted nuts, 1 tbsp honey (mix to form a thick paste)

Melt and cook butter, beer and sugar in the microwave for 7 minutes in 60 second bursts. Be sure to keep stirring in between to make sure it doesn't burn. Sift in dry ingredients and blitz with a mixer. Add in eggs one at a time and beat well in between each addition. Spoon into large muffin cups till 3/4 full and bake in preheated 180 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly top muffin cups with nut mixture. Return to oven for another 8-10 minutes or until tops are sticky and caramelized.