Raspberry trifle cupcakes

Not just for Christmas!

And not just for raspberries either. Swap for any fruit/jam combination of your choice. As the recipe uses fresh cream, these cakes are best eaten within 2 days. The creamy custard topping would make a great addition to a regular trifle, too.

My mixture made 12 cupcakes.

Raspberry trifle cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the sponge

80 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

280 g caster sugar

240 g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

240 ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs (free range, of course!)

 

For the filling/topping

500 ml milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 egg yolks (free range, of course, and keep your egg whites for meringues)

100 g caster sugar

30 g plain flour

30 g cornflour

200 ml double cream

24 fresh raspberries

100 g raspberry jam

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC fan and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

2. Put the butter in a large bowl and sift in the sugar, flour, baking power and salt. Mix on a slow speed (I use a K-mix but a hand-held mixer will do just as well) until a mixture resembling crumbs is formed.

3. In a jug, using a fork, mix together the milk, vanilla and eggs.

4. Pour three-quarters of the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, while mixing on a slow speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure a good mixture. Add the remaining milk and beat again on medium speed until the batter is smooth.

5. Divide the batter between the paper cases, filling each one so that it is about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 minutes. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. To make the custard, place the milk and vanilla extract in a pan and bring to the boil. In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, sugar, flour and cornflour to make a paste.

7. When the milk has boiled, remove the pan from the heat and mix 5 tbsp of the milk with the egg and flour paste. Pour this back in the pan with the remaining hot milk and return to the heat. Bring back to the boil, whisking constantly, and continue to boil for a further minute to ensure the flour is cooked.

8. Pour the custard into a baking tray and cover with cling film. Set aside for 30–40 mins to cool. The cling film should be touching the surface of the custard so as to prevent a skin forming.

9. Tip the cooled custard into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon to remove any lumps.

10. In a separate bowl, whip the double cream into soft peaks. Fold the cream into the custard with a wooden spoon.

11. Core the cupcakes using either a cupcake corer or a sharp knife, retaining the bits of sponge you’ve cut out. Place a raspberry upside down in each cake, 1/2 a tsp of the jam and a further 1/2 tsp of custard. Then, place the cut out sponge back in the cake, trimming if necessary.

Hollowed-out centres

12. Spoon the remaining custard topping over the 12 cakes, topping with a raspberry to finish.

 

Based on a recipe given in Cake Days.