Cinnamon Apple and Salted Caramel Duffins.

I don't think this recipe could be any more Autumnal if I tried; a scrumptious little bundle of doughy joy, wrapped in a lovely cinnamon sugar blanket and brimming with a salty caramel centre and sweet, juicy cinnamon apple compote; how delicious! I am a huge fan of duffins and there crisp, sugar coated doughnut exterior; encasing a soft, fluffy muffin interior as you really do get the best of both worlds and to be honest, aren't both worlds bloomin' gorgeous! These duffins are utterly wonderful and moreish and you can honestly cram them full of any delicious filling you like but, my choice seasonal Autumn filling at the moment is most definitely cinnamon apple and salted caramel and I am sure you will love it too. So remember, the next time you head out on a chillly Autumn walk; wrapped up in your coziest attire and crunch your way through of a pile fiery orange leaves; leave one of these lovely little duffins waiting for you to tuck into back at home and I can assure you; with a duffin in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other you'll think wow, isn't this Autumn really rather magical.

Ingredients

Makes 10-12 duffins chock-full of cinnamon apple compote and salted caramel; aren't you lucky!

For the duffins:

210g plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
165g caster sugar
1 large egg
188ml buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

65ml sunflower oil

For the sugar coating:

150g Unsalted butter, melted

200g caster sugar

1-2 tsp. cinnamon

For the cinnamon apple compote:

Granny smith apple peeled and diced into very small cubes

20g butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

20g brown sugar

A splash of water

For the salted caramel filling:

250g light soft brown sugar

150ml double cream

1/2-1 tsp. sea salt (depends on your taste, I go all out!)

Method

1)  Start by preparing the cinnamon apple compote. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add the brown sugar, cinnamon and tiny splash of water and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. 

 2) Add the apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The mixture will thicken as it cools.

3)  Next prepare the mind-blowing salted caramel! Heat the brown sugar, ½- 1 tsp. salt and cream in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Bubble for a few minutes, then leave to cool. I find it easier to fill the duffins while the caramel is still a little warm though as when it is completely cool it becomes very thick and harder to work with.

4)  Now prepare the duffins. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ Gas mark 4 and sieve the plain flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add the freshly grated nutmeg.

5)  Next, whisk the buttermilk, large egg and sunflower oil together and add the vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and stir using a spatula until just combined.

6)  Take a 12-cup muffin tin and use a little oil to lightly grease each hole in the muffin tin. Spoon the duffin mixture into the muffin tin holes, filling them two thirds full. Alternately, use a cookie scoop and you get the perfect dollop!

7)  Bake for 20 minutes until golden and well-risen and until the surface of each duffin springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. 

8)  While the duffins are baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low-heat, pour into a bowl and set-aside. Now, add 200g caster sugar to another bowl stir in 1-2 tsp. cinnamon to create cinnamon sugar.

9)  Remove the muffin tray from the oven once the duffins are cooked and gently lift the duffins out onto a wire cooling rack. Immediately dip the duffins into the melted butter and then roll in either the sugar or cinnamon sugar to liberally and evenly coat them before allowing to cool completely on the wire cooling rack.       
                            

10) Once cool, use a cupcake corer, apple corer or sharp knife to gently remove the centre  of each duffin, creating a hole. Finally, fill each duffin with 1 tsp. salted caramel and top  with a mini tower of 1 tsp. glossy apple compote and devour and enjoy immediately!

Raspberry and Lime Jam Duffins.

There are many pairings that go together in this world; peanut butter and chocolate, macaroni and cheese, rhubarb and custard, kenan and kel but, never before had I realised just how fantastic combining a doughnut with a muffin would be. Never before had I even known about combining a doughnut with a muffin so thank you kindly Bea for your delicious recipe! The result of this gorgeous combination is a soft, moist, doughy bundle of joy, oozing with a luxurious, zesty raspberry and lime jam filling and enveloped in a shimmering blanket of sugar. 

I recently baked these duffins for one of my final assessments at Liverpool John Moores University where I just finished my second year studying Home Economics and I filled them with a lovely rhubarb compote and vanilla custard filling which I will definitely share on here at some point too but, for now I just thought that the vibrant, zesty raspberry and lime jam duffins would create the perfect little treat to enjoy on a nice summery picnic or to pack up for a trip to the seaside on a lovely, sunny day. Alternatively, if like myself all you are seeing outside your window is the all too familiar sight of a British summer filled with grey skies and showers of rain, then I think that means that we can all just eat even more of these melt in the mouth bundles of sweet, sugary heaven to drown our sorrows, after all they'll be no need for a bikini body in this weather so might as well get working on building up that extra layer of padding for winter!

Ingredients
Makes 12 delicious duffins
For the Raspberry and Lime Jam:

300g raspberries, fresh or frozen

300g jam sugar

zest and juice of 1 lime

For the Duffins:

210g plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
165g caster sugar
1 large egg
188ml buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

65ml sunflower oil

For the Topping:

150g Unsalted butter, melted

200g caster sugar 

1 tsp. cinnamon

Method

1)    Start by preparing the raspberry and lime jam. Place the raspberries, lime zest and juice into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and once turned to a pulp, add in the jam sugar and stir, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Bring to the boil again, boiling for about 10 minutes or until you reach the jam thickness you desire.

2)    To test the set of the jam, place a small tea plate into the freezer to chill whilst you boil the jam. Place a small bit of your jam onto the cold plate and if it is set the surface of the jam should wrinkle when you push a finger through it.

3)    Once the jam has reached your desired thickness, pour it into sterilized jars and set aside.

4)    Next, prepare the delicious duffins! Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ Gas mark 4 and sieve the plain flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add the freshly grated nutmeg.

8)    Next, whisk the buttermilk, large egg and sunflower oil together and add the vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and stir using a spatula until just combined.

9)    Take a 12-cup muffin tin and use a little oil to lightly grease each hole in the muffin tin. Spoon the duffin mixture into the muffin tin holes, filling them two thirds full.

10)  Bake for 20 minutes until golden and well-risen and until the surface of each duffin springs back when lightly pressed with a finger.

11) While the duffins are baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low-heat, pour into a bowl and set-aside. Now, add 100g caster sugar to another bowl and into a final bowl add 100g caster sugar and stir in 1 tsp. cinnamon to create cinnamon sugar.

12)  Remove the muffin tray from the oven once the duffins are cooked and gently lift the duffins out onto a wire cooling rack. Immediately dip the duffins into the melted butter and then roll in either the sugar or cinnamon sugar to liberally and evenly coat them before allowing to cool completely on the wire cooling rack.

13)  Once cool, use a cupcake corer, apple corer or sharp knife to gently remove the centre of each duffin, creating a hole. Finally, fill each duffin with 1 tsp. of the raspberry and lime jam and devour and enjoy immediately!

p.s. any of the remaining jam can be popped in the fridge and enjoyed on toast or scones- well everybody loves a good scone with jam and clotted cream in Cornwall don't they!

Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream Scones.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make... Lemon Scones.

Well, this post has definitely been a long time coming. With a failed attempt at shortcake a couple of weeks ago, a six and a half hour trip back to Liverpool for University last weekend and four 7am starts to get up for University this week, it has now shockingly become eighteen days since my last post which, is pretty terrible and I do apologize for that but, I am now officially back with a scrumptious scone recipe as a way of; saying goodbye to my family and home in Cornwall for the next four months and celebrating another delicious lemon themed recipe.

Despite growing up in Cornwall and having the certainty that Cornish Cream Tea would be featured on every single cafe, restaurant or tea room menu, I actually very rarely make homemade scones and so thought it would be nice to give them a go. I found this classic scone recipe on the BBC Good Food website and I have got to say that the recipe is so simple and wonderful and the scones are utterly stunning and just how great scones should be; crumbly, soft and sweet and perfect to encase a luxurious zesty lemon curd and rich clotted cream filling. The scones shot up like towers in the oven and I honestly could not believe how ginormous they were when I opened the oven door, they looked just like they had been bought from a bakery which, is always a good thing and even better when they are so easy and quick to make as well.

I had also never tried lemon curd on scones before yesterday as I had always stuck to the traditional jam and cream scone filling but, I can now safely say that lemon curd is a delightful and refreshing addition to a scone and may even be more delicious on a scone than jam but, shhhh! I'm not sure if that is an acceptable thing to say in Cornwall and I don't want to get banned from going home!

Recipe

Makes 8 Scones

For the Scones-

350g self-raising flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

85g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

3 tbsp. caster sugar

175ml milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

squeeze lemon juice

1 beaten egg to glaze

For the Lemon Curd-

Grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
2 eggs, beaten
90g golden caster sugar
55g unsalted butter

Clotted cream

Method

1. Start by preparing the lemon curd. Sit a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water but, don't let the bowl touch the water. Then place the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice in the bowl and whisk together. Now add the butter piece by piece and cook for about 15 minutes, giving it a good whisk from time to time, until the curd has become smooth, glossy and thickened. Allow to cool. You can make this the day before for convenience if you like. Just cover with cling film and refrigerate if desired.

2. Next, prepare the scones. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7. Tip the flour into a large bowl with the baking powder and salt and mix. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar.

3. Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds until warm but, not hot. Add the vanilla and lemon juice to the milk, then set aside for a moment while you pop a baking sheet into the oven.

4. Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a cutlery knife, it will seem pretty wet at first. Scatter some flour onto the work surface and tip the dough out. Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour and fold the dough over 2-3 times until it is a little smoother. Pat into a round about 4cm deep. 

5. Take a 5cm round cutter and dip into some flour, plunge into the dough and repeat until you have about 4 round scones. By this point you will probably need to press what is left back into a round to cut out another 4 scones. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place onto the hot baking sheet. 

6. Bake for 10 minutes until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool, cut in half and smother with lemon curd and clotted cream.

Lemon and Pistachio Cake.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make... Lemon Cake.

Today is of course the 1^st of September and so unfortunately means that our summer, sunshine and days spent lazing on the beach are now over however, Google has assured me that Autumn does not officially begin until September 21^st so, despite the fact that the view out of my window is one of grey clouds and rain and ignoring the fact that I am bundled up in a chunky, over-sized jumper and debating whether to put my electric blanket back on my bed, I will choose to believe that we do still indeed have a few weeks of summer remaining. As such, I thought why not celebrate our remaining few weeks of summer with a few particularly zesty and summery recipes because I know that when Autumn arrives in just a few weeks’ time, it will bring a whole lot of chilly, windy and rainy weather with it and zesty, refreshing summer recipes will be a thing of the past as we tuck into our hearty stews and puddings instead.

For me, nothing is more delightful, vibrant and zesty in the summer than lemons which, just so happen to make some of the most delightful and flavoursome baked goods as well. I have therefore decided to do something a little bit different on the blog for the next few weeks and have created the 'When Life Gives You Lemons, Make...' mini series to share some delicious lemon recipes with you, as I thought that having a theme on the blog for a few weeks would be something new and exciting. So, over the next few weeks I will be making; Lemon and Pistachio Cake, Zesty Lemon Tart and Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream Shortcake and so, hopefully there will be at least one lemon recipe to catch everyone's eye but, if you are a lemon lover like me then I hope you adore them all.

I decided to start with this moist, crumbly lemon and pistachio cake taken from Fay Ripley's, Fay Makes It Easy cookbook and added in my favourite homemade lemon curd. It is the perfect afternoon tea cake, or for me; ‘the whenever I feel like a slice of cake, cake’. Every glorious, soft, sweet bite melts in the mouth and bursts on the tongue with zesty, lemony flavour while, the velvety, tart, river of lemon curd running through the centre is just a heavenly, hidden treasure. Simple and scrumptious, that's what we like to hear. 

Recipe

For the lemon and pistachio cake-

125g shelled pistachios

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g golden caster sugar

150g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

50g ground almonds

2 large eggs

juice of 2 lemons

150g-175g lemon curd

For the lemon drizzle icing-

75g icing sugar

2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the lemon curd-

Grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 2 lemons

2 eggs, beaten

90g golden caster sugar

55g unsalted butter

Method

1. Start by preparing the lemon curd.  Sit a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, but don't let the bowl touch the water. Then place the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice in the bowl and whisk together. Now add the butter piece by piece and cook for about 15 minutes, giving it a good whisk from time to time, until the curd has become smooth, glossy and thickened. Allow to cool. You can make this the day before for convenience if you like so just cover with cling film and refrigerate if desired.

2. Next, pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 20cm round spring form cake tin with greaseproof paper. Prepare the cake mixture. In a food processor grind 100g of the pistachios to crumbs. Tip into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a freestanding mixer. Add the softened butter, sugar, ground almonds and mix until smooth and combined. 

3. Pop in the eggs and mix again until combined. Add 2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice and mix. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mix and fold in gently.

4. Scrape half of the mixture into the cake tin and spread to fill the tin and meet the edges. Smooth the mixture out and then top with the lemon curd. Roughly spread the lemon curd over the top but not quite to the edge.

5. With the remainder of the mixture, drop dollops over the top of the lemon curd layer to cover it and gently spread the mixture to the edge of the cake tin, smoothing with the back of a spoon. 

6. Roughly chop the remaining 25g pistachios with a knife and scatter over the cake. Bake for about 45 minutes until brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.

7. For the icing just mix together the icing sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice, stirring into a paste. Drizzle over the top of the cake, creating a criss-cross pattern and leave for a couple of minutes to set before serving.

P.s. if you do happen to have any lemons remaining after baking this cake, then the whole 'When Life Gives You Lemons, Grab Some Vodka And Make Limoncello' sounds like a great idea too. 

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

When it comes to food; I don't think there is anything I like more than chocolate and peanut butter. The rich, salty peanut butter against the sweet,decadent chocolate; for me, it is just perfection. As such, this recipe is one of my all-time favourite cupcake recipes and I hope it becomes one of yours too! Again this recipe uses my favourite chocolate cake recipe to create a lovely, moist chocolatey sponge filled with rich, dark chocolate ganache and sweet, creamy peanut butter pudding. Top it all off with a swirl of fluffy peanut butter frosting and a sprinkle of mini Reese's peanut butter cups and you're good to go! So please, go devour them happily! Some things taste just too good to worry about the waistline. 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100ml double cream

For the Peanut Butter Pudding-

30g Golden caster sugar   
1 1/4 tsp. cornflour
pinch of salt 
100ml evaporated milk 
30ml double cream 
30g peanut butter 
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Peanut Butter Frosting-

220g icing sugar

200g creamy peanut butter

140g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

160ml double cream

To top the cupcakes- 24 Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups (chop 12 into tiny pieces and keep 12 whole)

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Next, prepare the peanut butter pudding. Whisk together the caster sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in the milk, then cream. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil. Then boil until thick, whisking constantly for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the peanut butter; boil until thick again, whisking often for about 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set the pan aside to cool.

7. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache and pudding are cool fill each dip/hole with 1 tsp. chocolate ganache and 1 tsp. peanut butter pudding. 

8. Finally, prepare the peanut butter frosting. Place the icing sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light, pale and smooth. Finish by piping each cupcake with a swirl of peanut butter frosting, scatter with the chopped reese's mini peanut butter cup pieces and pop a whole peanut butter cup on the top.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

Making a cupcake that tastes just like a Mint Aero could never be a bad thing, right? Well, I've only gone and done it! Yesterday, I decided to whip up a batch of my favourite chocolate cupcakes and then I made half into Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes and half into these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes. I've got to say I am actually really pleased with them and they taste pretty damn good if I do say so myself! The sweet, fluffy peppermint frosting tastes lovely paired with the soft, chocolatey sponge and rich, dark chocolate ganache and the pastel green frosting also looks really pretty against the deep, decadent, dark chocolate sponge which, I'm really happy about. I love a sweet and simple presentation and I really hope you enjoy these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes too! 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100ml double cream

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

For the Peppermint Frosting-

230g unsalted butter, softened

450g icing sugar, sifted

2 tsp. peppermint essence

green food colouring

crumbled chocolate cupcake or cookie to decorate

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache is cool fill each dip/hole with 2 tsp. chocolate ganache. Reserve the chocolate cupcake centres ready to crumble over the cupcakes for decoration or alternatively you can use crumbled chocolate cookie.

7. Finally, prepare the peppermint frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and peppermint essence until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add a few drops of green food colouring to the frosting and beat until the frosting is a nice pale, mint green colour. Lastly, pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake, scatter with a sprinkle of crumbled chocolate cookie or some of the reserved chocolate cupcake crumbs. 

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes.

There are some combinations that you just can't go wrong with like; chocolate and peanut butter, maple and pecan or marmite and beans on toast...(no, just me?). The bloomin' delicious combination of white chocolate and raspberry is no different. To start with; the vibrant pink rasberries paired against the delicate, creamy white chocolate looks amazing but, it also tastes great which, is definitely the most important! The juicy, tartness of the raspberries perfectly accompanies the luxurious, rich, sweet flavour of the white chocolate and I discovered that this lovely flavour combination doesn't disappoint and continues to work perfectly together to create a really lovely cupcake too so, do enjoy if you decide to whip up a batch yourself!

On a side note, I reverted back to my 13 year old boyband obsessed, fan-girl self again on Friday morning and managed to get tickets to see 5 seconds of summer in Birmingham next year which, I am fairly sure I am far too excited about for a 20 year old but, oh well! I had 3 laptops going, recruited my sister to help out and managed to get my tickets which, I am over the moon about. I felt slightly insane refreshing the page every few seconds, panicking that I wouldn't get any, it was really a very stressful time. I am definitely too obsessed for a grown woman but, nevermind, it's a healthy obsession... largely. A group of handsome Australian guys (albeit most are two years younger than me :/ but hey, what's two years?), playing instruments, writing great music, singing great songs, wearing great clothes, having great hair and generally looking gorgeous all the time, what grown woman wouldn't fall slightly in love? Needless to say, next June regardless of whether I am supposed to be a respectable, sensible and adult 21 year old, I will definitely be rocking out with my socks out for 5sos and won't care at all!

Recipe

For the White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes-

300g plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

150g caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 225ml whole milk
• 50g butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 100g fresh raspberries, cut in half
• 110g white chocolate, chopped into chunks
• For the Raspberry Filling-

80g fresh raspberries

1 tbsp. caster sugar

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. corn flour

60ml cold water

For the White Chocolate Frosting-

170g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

230g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

240g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt 

To decorate - white chocolate shavings, white chocolate chips or grated white chocolate and 24 fresh raspberries.

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 200C.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir the sugar into the flour mixture.

3. In a separate bowl crack the egg, whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter (melt for approximately 30 seconds in a microwave and allow to cool slightly before adding to the egg and milk). 

4. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.

5. Using a metal spoon, fold the raspberries and white chocolate chunks into the cake mixture.

6. Fill each cake case 2/3 full with the mixture, making sure that each case has some white chocolate chunks and raspberries in. Bake for around 17-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when the surface is pushed lightly.

7. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool.

8. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the raspberry filling. Combine the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and begin to simmer over a low heat.

9. Whisk the corn flour into the cold water until smooth, add to the raspberries in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until the desired consistency is reached and set-aside to cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.

10. Using an apple corer, dig out a hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the raspberry sauce is cool, spoon 2 tsp. raspberry sauce into each.

11. Finally, prepare the white chocolate frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract, white chocolate and salt until the frosting is thick, smooth, light, pale and fluffy. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with the white chocolate shavings and top with two fresh raspberries.