My Fiancé has always favoured the flavours of almond, cherry and jam, so I have decided to let you all in to a little secret, that keeps my fiancé happy; How to make his favourite, ‘ Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes’

First things first;

Ingredients

60g ground almonds, make sure they are ground otherwise the texture can be quite lumpy, you want it to be a smooth cupcake.

250g butter/margarine or even a low fat alternative to butter (at room temperature). I prefer to use clover light spread, which has all the flavour of butter without the tremendous amount of calories. It also gives the cakes a beautiful golden appearance once they come out of the oven.

250g golden caster sugar

250g Self raising flour

3 Large organic, free range eggs

1 tsp milk (any type of milk, but I prefer semi skimmed)

90g raspberry jam (I used seeded, as it gives more of a texture to cakes)

1 tsp baking powder

When making Cherry Bakewell cupcakes, I like to use a simple icing over the top, which consists of;

For the icing

250g Icing sugar

Glace Cherries( un-dyed)

3tbsp fresh lemon juice (you can also use the zest of the lemon to decorate the top of the cupcakes).

Method

Set the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and line a muffin tray with either muffin or cupcake liners, depending on how big you would like your cakes. Place the butter into a bowl and add the golden caster sugar. Cream them together until the mixture becomes pale and smooth, this may take anywhere between 2-5 minutes with an electric whisk. Then, add the eggs one at a time, making sure that the batter is well mixed between each addition of egg. Then add the baking powder to the flour and add to the butter mixture 1/3 at a time, stirring well. Add the milk and again, stir well.
Once all of the ingredients are added, apart from the raspberry jam, carefully spoon the mixture into the paper cases and place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, watching carefully to ensure that the cakes do not burn. Once they turn a golden brown colour, check them by inserting a skewer into the centre of each cake and if it comes out clean, then the cakes are ready and should be removed from the oven. Leave to stand for 10 minutes still in the muffin tray and then remove them and leave them to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Once the cakes are completely cold, you can start making the icing. Pour the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice, mix until smooth and white. Then using an apple corer or any contraption you have, remove the centre of each cupcake and fill the hole in the middle with raspberry jam. Then, spoon the icing over the top of each cake and place a cherry on top. Then, leave the icing to set, and your cherry bakewell cupcakes are ready to serve!

If you have any questions on either this recipe or any other recipe you have seen on the site, please feel free to drop me an email to jennifer@sasdataservices.com or leave me a comment and I will reply as soon as I can.

Bon Appetite!!