Strawberry Jam Cupcakes

(I do bake with ingredients other than strawberries, promise!)

I made these for a friend's party; her diabetic grandmother ate one, declared they were delicious and gobbled down two more before announcing that "Life was too short not to eat the good things."

I have to say, I completely agree.

This recipe was courtesy of the wonderful Peyton and Byrne, one of my favourite baking books of all time.

I have yet to visit one of their bakeries, but it is a day I anxiously await.

*Note - When I made these cupcakes, I didn't find the icing recipe supplied by P&B to be hugely successful or of a thick enough consistency to pipe, so I made up a butter icing and stirred some strawberry jam into it and dyed it slightly pink*

Here's the recipe to make these gorgeous summery goodies:

100g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
150g self raising flour
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp natural yoghurt
50g strawberry jam
Fresh strawberries to decorate
2 large egg whites (for the icing)
150g caster sugar (for the icing)
175g unsalted butter (for the icing)
2tbsp strawberry jam (for the icing)
4 large mashed strawberries (for the icing)
1 tsp vanilla extract (for the icing)

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celcius and line a 12 hole muffin tin with baking cases.

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift the flour into the creamed mixture and mix until all the flour is well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, yogurt and strawberry jam and mix until just incorporated.

Using a large spoon, fill the cupcakes cases about three-quarters full with the mixture. Bake the cakes for 15 minutes or until they are springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and let them call for 5 minutes in the tin before moving onto a cooling rack.

Make the strawberry jam icing: combine the egg whites and caster sugar in a large heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of JUST simmering water and whisk continuously by hand until the sugar is dissolved (this should take about 10 minutes.) When the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is warm to the touch, remove the bowl from the pan. Whisk for about 10 minutes until fluffy peaks form and the mixture has cooled. It needs to be completely cool before you add the butter.

Start adding small lumps of the softened butter, whisking a little at a time after each addition. Now gradually add the jam and mashed strawberries until all is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Chill until ready to use. Ice your cupcakes!