A recipe that has really worked - our marriage

Today my husband and I have been married for 10 years.
   It sounds very cliché, but it absolutely feels like yesterday when we said our vows in my hometown of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
   My husband is responsible for a lot of content here on Recipes That Worked.
   I worked an evening shift for several years before I started writing this blog, and he made supper for us several times a week.
   He was often the first to try out a new recipe that I had picked out, and he always did it without complaint.
   On this occasion of my wedding anniversary, I’m featuring a couple of recipes my husband and I recently tried that he really liked (I liked them, too.)

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes (click here for the recipe at the BBC GoodFood website) have an apt name – they were very easy to make.
   The icing is the real treat, but the recipe produces a lot. I only used about half of it. You might consider making a second batch of cupcakes and using up the icing.
   Here’s my official make-it-better tip: Although people will be clamoring to try these cupcakes on the day they’re made, if you can keep them in a sealed container until the next day, they will have more moisture and the flavor will be deeper.
   The recipe calls for light muscovado sugar. I found demerara sugar at the supermarket and used it as a substitute, but I found several mentions online that dark brown sugar would also be an effective substitute.
   To make the cupcakes, dark chocolate is whizzed into small pieces in a food processor, and some of the pieces are mixed together with soured cream (a.k.a sour cream), cocoa powder, self-raising flour, sunflower oil, eggs, vanilla and water using electric beaters.
   The batter is divided among the holes in a muffin tin that have been lined with paper cups. The cupcakes are baked and cooled.
   The icing is made by melting the remaining chocolate bits with sour cream and sugar in a small saucepan. It’s put in the fridge until it is cool enough to spread on the waiting muffins.

Vietnamese Prawn Salad (click here for the recipe on the BBC GoodFood website) is a fresh dish that’s great to make if you’re craving something with noodles but don’t want anything steaming hot.
   It’s quite easy to put together. Boiling water is poured over thin rice noodles (also called vermicelli; found in the Asian foods section of the supermarket), and they’re left to stand for 10 minutes. Then they’re drained.
   Mashed garlic, a small red chilli (we used a half of a jalapeno pepper), golden caster sugar (we used superfine sugar, sometimes labelled berry sugar or extra fine granulated sugar), and the juice of two limes comprise the dressing.
   Cooked tiger prawns (we used cooked shrimp), cucumber, carrot, spring onions (green onions or scallions) are tossed together.
   The salad is served by putting noodles on a plate, topping it with the prawn and vegetable mixture and scattering mint or cilantro (we used mint) and chopped peanuts on top.

Two of my husband's other favorites:
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Red Wine-Raspberry Sorbet