Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I always think that home-made gifts are just as (or even more) special than bought ones. It’s shows you’ve put your heart and soul into it (get it?) and I always love receiving a gift which involves food…

 

These dreamy cupcakes are a classic, soft vanilla sponge with a swirl of homemade strawberry jam running through them, topped with a fitting pink strawberry buttercream (flavoured by the jam) and a dollop of more strawberry goodness and mini Jammie Dodger biscuits. They sound a little complicated but they’re SO easy to make and the flavour of the homemade jam is incredible!! You really cannot beat it as there’s nothing better than the taste of fresh strawberries. 

 

I’ve included some tips within this recipe as the buttercream can be temperamental when it comes to adding in your jam/purée. You want the flavour to come through but too much liquid will obviously make the buttercream runny so add 2 – 3 tablespoons at first, mixing with a plastic spatula and then taste test. 

If you’re pushed for time, you can use ready made/shop bought jam in the cupcakes (just mix it first to get it runny or add a teaspoon of boiling water) and you can also use strawberry flavouring and pink food counting gel for the buttercream. I would not recommend using shop bought jam. 

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes):

• 125g unsalted butter, at room temp
• 125g caster sugar 
• 125g self raising flour 
• 2 medium sized eggs 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 2 tbsp milk 
• 3 tbsp home-made strawberry purée (see below) or shop bought seedless strawberry jam 

For the strawberry purée:

• 400g fresh strawberries (cut in half with the tops cut off) 
• 100g caster sugar 

For the buttercream: 

• 350g icing sugar 
• 175g unsalted butter, at room temp 
• 6 tbsp strawberry purée (3 for inside the buttercream and the rest for drizzling on top) 
• 12 mini Jammie Dodgers 

Method: 

1. Start by placing the sugar and strawberries into a deep pan and place over a low heat. Once they begin to sizzle, stir and then leave for 15 minutes (stirring occasionally) until the strawberries have disintegrated
2. Once you have a runny jam, leave to cool completely before draining – for this, I passed the jam through a sieve, rubbing with the back of a spoon to ensure all the juice passed through but so the lumps remained
3. Next, preheat your oven to 170 degrees C and place your cupcake cases into a cupcake tray. Add the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and then beat so all of the ingredients combine and then fold in the sifted flour, milk and vanilla essence 
4. Mix together until you have a smooth cake batter and lightly fold in the jam so you have a marble effect
5. Add the cake mixture to the cupcake cases until each are two thirds full (I added an addition teaspoon of jam on top of each cake and swirled it into the cake batter for additional flavour) then place into the oven for 20-25 mins. Your cakes should be light golden brown and spring back when you touch them 
6. Leave to cool and begin to make the buttercream. Add the butter and icing sugar to a mixing bowl and stir until all the sugar has been mixed with the butter. You should have a light creamy icing
7. Next add 2-3 tablespoons of the jam (or the strawberry extract and food colouring) and fold into the icing. If it’s a little too runny after you add the strawberry jam, add a little more icing sugar and simply pop into the fridge or freezer whilst your cakes cool to thicken it up
8. Once your icing is ready and the cakes are cool, decorate as you wish using the butter cream, a drizzle of strawberry jam and Jammie Dodgers (or other valentines decorations) 

Enjoy! Nic x

N.B. The cupcakes and jam can be made the night before. Just store the cupcakes into an air tight container in a cool dry place – they will keep for 3-5 days. The jam can be placed into a glass jar and kept in the fridge – just leave it out to reach room temp