Taking a pinch of inspiration from her grandma’s baking secrets and a dash of creative enthusiasm that only a mummy can provide, Martine Kershaw from Bake My Day shares her seriously scrummy cupcakes…

Ingredients (makes 12- 14 cupcakes dependant on wrapper size)

For the cake:

10oz Golden caster sugar (it’s a little more expensive but well worth it for the flavour)
10oz Rapeseed oil
5oz Self raising flour
5oz Cocoa powder
Five small/medium eggs
Two level tsps baking powder
Three rounded tsp vanilla paste
Five oz fresh/frozen raspberries (optional but really yummy)

For the topping:

Eight oz good quality white chocolate or white cooking chocolate
10oz Cream cheese such as Philadelphia
Four oz butter
Two tbsps lemon juice
One tsp vanilla paste.

Method

– Firstly ensure that all ingredients have been brought out of the fridge (apart from the cream cheese) to rise to room temp.
– Next, line your muffin trays with your cupcake wrappers and set aside. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius or 140 degrees for fan assisted ovens.
– Next, cream the oil and sugar until a cloudy oily paste forms.
– Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each introduction.
– Add the vanilla paste and continue to mix until combined into the mixture. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in no particular order.
– Mix well and do not worry too much about knocking out the air as with a sponge cake, as this will be a very dense gooey cake.
– At this point the batter will be very thick and quite tricky to work with (you will have a real arm ache if you don’t have an electric mixer, but it will be worth it).
– Dot in the raspberries and mix in a little so they are evenly spread and just covered by the batter but don’t beat them in.
– Take a tablespoon or ice cream scoop and fill your cupcake wrappers around two thirds of the way up the wrapper, leaving a third in the top for space to rise.
– Into your pre heated oven place your cupcake trays on the middle shelf for around 30 minutes. – Check the cakes at the 25-30 minute mark and if the cakes bounce back when a little pressure is applied to the surface, then they are ready, if they still wobble in the middle then place them back into oven and check at five minute intervals. Do not open the oven before 20 minutes at least have passed or the cakes will sink.
– While the cakes are baking, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, at the same time as doing this melt the white chocolate in the microwave, removing from the microwave every 60 seconds and mixing and repeating until the chocolate has melted.
– Take care not to burn the chocolate and ensure that the process is followed correctly. Alternatively you can use the water bath method but I find the microwave method is easier.
– Once the chocolate has melted, allow it to cool slightly so it isn’t piping hot and has begun to thicken again slightly.
– Then whilst beating with an electric hand whisk (preferably but can be done manually with a balloon whisk), slowly introduce the molten chocolate to the cream cheese beating all of the time until the two are combined.
– Next beat in the room temperature butter in the same way until this has combined with the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Add the lemon juice a tbsp at a time mixing between each introduction until combined.
– Allow this to set in the fridge for around 30 minutes until it has set hard enough to pipe on to the cooled cupcakes.
– Before filling a piping bag ensure that the mixture is re-beaten to fluff it up again. Fill a piping bag with a plain round nozzle attachment and pipe in a snail shell motion on to the cooled cupcakes starting at the outer edge and working inwards in a spiral motion leaving a small peak in the middle.
– Decorate with a steamed glace cherry, colourful sprinkles and drizzle with chocolate sauce (I use the one that is used for ice cream cones but you could make your own).