Inspiration for baking comes in many forms. This week I got a text from my Mum. It read ‘Did you get the recipe from waitrose for cupcakes to enter their competition to win a cookery course. Thought you should enter that!! xxx’

Well no I didn’t, and yes I should. So in the age of technology, she photographed the recipe card she got through the post and texted it over to me……my Mum may be retired but she is a bit of a techie, and the main form of communication between us is either text or messaging on our iPads. So armed with my 2 text messages (one for the recipe and one for the method) I set about trying the win a cookery course.

I followed the ingredients to the letter, but as I’m an old fashioned kind of baker I rebelled when it came to the order of placing the ingredients into the food processor……..yes you did read that right……food processor!!!! The recipe said put everything in at once. But the old fashioned side of me meant I did the butter and sugar first and added the egg and flour alternately, one egg and spoon of flour at a time.

The whole food processor thing confused me a bit. I mean, surely a food mixer should be used, but the method said ‘blitz until smooth’, so there was no mistake a ‘processor’ was what was needed. The batter came out quite creamy, like thick pouring cream and actually baked really nicely.

The recipe was for 12 cakes, but I got 15. The method said bake at 220c, gas mark 6 for 20 minutes, but after only 5 minutes the tops were turning brown, so I’m afraid I rebelled again and turned the oven down a bit.

The cake photos will now be emailed to the correct address, and fingers crossed I may win myself a cookery course. Even if I don’t, I now have 15 cupcakes to eat, so it’s basically a win win situation!!

Waitrose Raspberry Cupcakes

Cakes:

250g Self-raising Flour

250g Caster Sugar

250g Unsalted butter softened

4 medium eggs

3tbsp whole milk

Zest of 1 lemon

12 Raspberries (I actually needed 15, as my mix made 15 cakes)

Frosting:

125g Butter, softened

250g Icing Sugar

150g Seedless Raspberry Jam

Preheat your oven to 220c, 200c fan, gas mark 6.

Prepare a cupcake tray with 12 muffin cases (although beware, my mixture made 15 good size cakes)

Put all the cake mix (except for the raspberries) in a food processor and ‘blitz until smooth’.

Or as I did, place the butter and sugar in the processor and blitz. Add the milk and lemon zest, and blitz. Lastly add an egg and a quarter of the flour and blitz. Repeat until you have no eggs or flour left.

Spoon the mix into a piping bag and pipe the mix into the cases until two thirds full. Then push a raspberry into the middle of each cupcake, making sure the top is covered so it doesn’t burn when it bakes.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. As I said, I found the oven temperature quite hot, so turned it down after 5 minutes when I noticed the tops were browning too quickly.

Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

While they’re cooling, you can make the frosting.

Beat the butter in a mixer for a couple of minutes. Turn the mixer (not a processor) to its lowest setting and gradually add the icing sugar, and when it’s fully incorporated turn you mixer to full speed and mix for at least 5 minutes.

Then add the jam and mix for a further 2 minutes. It may depend on the brand of jam, but I found the quantity stated made the frosting quite runny, and I will, therefore have to eat my 15 cupcakes with a fork.

Pipe your frosting over you cakes and decorate however you wish.

Now don’t they look pretty?!!