I thought I would add some savoury cupcake ideas to the mix. These are ideal if you are looking for a breakfast cupcake to eat on the hoof…

Ingredients

1 medium egg

225g Self raising flour

100g broccoli

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

80g grated Cheddar cheese or Edam if you are looking for a creamy stringy flavour

45ml olive oil (do not use veg oil)

1 ½ teaspoon of Mustard preferably English Mustard

180ml Milk semi skimmed or full fat if you want a creamier flavour.

Method

Set the oven temperature to 200 Degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with cupcake liners. Firstly, cook the broccoli by boiling it in the water however, the more al dente the broccoli is the better the flavour is so remember that as ‘flavour is the key’. Once the broccoli is cooked until it is al dente, top it from cooking by placing in a Pyrex bowl of ice water (if you do not have ice at hand, make sure the cold water runs to the point where you cannot put your fingers under the running tap, the water is then cold enough. Keep the broccoli in the ice water until it is cold. Then, drain the water and blitz the broccoli up in food processor or a blender until it reaches a pulp consistency. Then in a bowl, place the broccoli pulp, half the cheese, salt and pepper. In another bowl place the egg, mustard, milk and oil. Then pour one bowl into the other and mix until fully incorporated. Once this mixture has been mixed well, add the flour 1/3 at a time using a large wooden spoon (not a mixer or a Kenwood) as you have to minimise the loss of air in the mixture. Do not bang the bowl with the spoon or mix vigorously. Ensure that once all the flour has been mixed in, fold the ingredients together. Do not mix too much; once the flour has been mixed in, it is ready to place in the cupcake cases. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases carefully avoiding any spillages. If it does spill ensure to clean these bits otherwise they can burn and give the cakes a burning flavour. Fill the cases half way to ensure enough space to rise. Then, before closing the oven door, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake these delicious savoury cupcakes for 18 to 25 minutes checking at the 18 minute stage. If you open the over before the 18 minute mark, this can cause the cupcakes to sink and ultimately not rise. In order to check your cakes are ready, place a skewer into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, they are ready to come out of the oven. Once they have been removed from the oven leave them in the baking tray for 10minutes and then place them on a wire rack to cool. Once fully cooled, you can serve them with poached eggs and asparagus. These cupcakes can be a healthy and cool alternative to your normal breakfast and they are perfect with a fresh green salad for lunch.

I link keeping it simple as I have discovered that ‘simple always works’ however, if you would like to add meat into the cupcake batter then you can. Additionally white fish would work, and you can even use leeks as well as or instead of broccoli. The sky is the limit so see what you can discover.

It is all about trial and error.