Cakes for Karen

After ranting somewhat about cupcakes when I started this blog I actually seem to have become increasingly obsessed with them. They are all I want to make at the moment and I'm loving experimenting with cake mixes, flavourings and techniques.

These raspberry cakes are my latest experiment. I like the gooseberry and elderflower ones I made a few weeks ago better, but these are good and hit that raspberry spot!

My friend Karen has just had another baby - a little boy called Samuel. So I went off yesterday to see her and her two little ones, taking some of these with me. They've got no artificial colours or flavourings in them, so they're perfect to give to little people without having to worry about feeding them anything bad.

Before I packed them up to take I took a few pictures. I was most put out that the minute my goodies were boxed and sealed the sun came out and it was a beautiful day, perfect for taking pictures of cakes.... So my pics aren't the bright jewels I'd have liked, but oh well, you can't win em all!

Raspberry cupcakes
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest 1 lemon
140g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
juice 1/2 lemon
milk to loosen
12 raspberries

Raspberry buttercream
125g unsalted butter, softened
225g icing sugar
100g raspberries
1 tbsp lemon juice

Cream together the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Fold in the flour and baking powder. If the mixture is stiff then add a couple of tablespoons of milk, until the mix falls off a spoon easily. Spoon a little into the bottom of each case, place a raspberry in each and cover with more cake mix. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, til risen and golden.

For the icing, whiz together the raspberries and lemon juice in a small food processor then press through a fine sieve to remove the pips. Beat together the butter and icing sugar with the raspberry juice. Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe onto the cakes.