Strawberry cupcakes

In keeping with the strawberry season of Wimbledon, I thought I'd make some strawberry treats. With fresh strawberries in the sponge and strawberry jam in the buttercream, these cupcakes are incredibly light but creamy and delicious. They are exactly what you would expect - sweet and pretty damn tasty.

For the sponges (makes 12)

- 125 margarine

- 125g caster sugar

- 2 eggs, beaten

- 125g self raising flour

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1 tbsp semi skimmed milk

- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

- handful of fresh strawberries, finely chopped

For the buttercream

- 125g butter (has to be lurpak!)

- 300g icing sugar, sifted

- dash of warm milk

- 2 tbsp raspberry jam

- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence

- pink food colouring

- strawberries, to garnish

- edible glitter

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cases.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs and fold in the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.

4. Stir in the milk and vanilla essence, and add the chopped strawberries, mixing until well combined.

5. Spoon into the cupcake cases (about 3/4 full) then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wired rack.

6. Meanwhile, to make the buttercream, soften the butter then cream with the icing sugar, adding a dash of warm milk in to help mix. 

7. When the buttercream is smooth, stir in the jam and vanilla essence until well combined, then add a small amount of pink food colouring to enhance the colour.

8. Using a piping bag with a large star nozzle, generously pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake.

9. Top with a quartered strawberry (or however you prefer) and a sprinkle of glitter!

Enjoy :)

Berry smoothie

Smoothies are so simple to make at home, deliciously healthy, and so much cheaper than buying cartons from the supermarket like Innocent Smoothies.

They are perfect for breakfast, a snack/drink, or for dessert!

Ingredients:
- Skimmed milk
- Natural yogurt
- Banana
- Fresh berries (I used strawberries)
- Frozen berries (I used blueberries, raspberries and strawberries)
- Honey
- Oats

Tips:
- Make sure you add the wet ingredients to the blender first (milk and yogurt) so nothing gets stuck. I will usually add milk, yogurt and banana, and blend until mixed, then add the berries and mix, then add honey to taste until it is sweet enough.
- Oats can be added to make the smoothie more filling and thick, but can often change the flavour so they are optional depending on what you like.
- The good thing about smoothies is you don't need exact quantities - you can add as much of each ingredient as you like depending on the texture or flavour that you want! I usually use 1 medium-large banana and then work the other quantities around it. That should make 2 smoothies - like in the picture.
- If you aren't using any frozen berries then add some crushed ice so it's nice and cold!

Other smoothie ideas:
- To alter the flavours, most ingredients can be kept the same (banana, milk and yogurt) and you can just change the fruit, for example using kiwis or pineapple etc.
- You can also buy flavoured yogurt, which I try and stay away from as it tends to be higher in sugar/sweeteners, but it is good occasionally. I used Onken peach yogurt once which was delicious with strawberries!
- Pretty much anything can be blended - all fruits which is obviously the healthy option, but other ingredients like chocolate and nuts could work, and try adding different things to change the sweetness/flavours like jam.

Classic victoria sponge cake

This is always a winner and looks so classic and cute, perfect for any birthday or other party celebration, particularly in the summer seasons. I made this for my boyfriend's birthday last summer as he loves a good old victoria sponge! I always use raspberry jam for the filling because I just prefer it, it isn't as sickly as strawberry... for some reason I decided to top it with a strawberry though haha.

For the sponges:

- 225g margarine

- 225g caster sugar

- 4 eggs

- dash of vanilla essence

- 225g self-raising flour

- dash of milk (I always add milk when making sponge because it gives it a smooth and silky texture)

For the filling:

It's up to you what you fill it with, I think the classic is just strawberry jam, or jam and whipped double cream, but I like to use raspberry jam with vanilla butter-cream! You can also chop up strawberries for the filling.

For the topping:

It is tradition just to top it with a dusting of icing sugar and a cut up strawberry, but you can use whipped cream or buttercream or anything you want! I again, have used vanilla butter-cream. Flavoured butter-cream would also be good, like chocolate or raspberry/strawberry.

So... for the butter-cream:

- 150g unsalted butter

- 225g icing sugar, sifted

- 2 tbsp hot milk

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Cream together the butter and the sugar (for the sponge) until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the eggs, adding the odd bit of flour to prevent curdling.

3. Add the vanilla essence, fold in the flour and stir in the milk.

4. Fill two 7 inch baking tins (which should be greased and lined with baking paper)

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes on 180C/Gas 4, or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle. Place on a cooling rack.

6. For the butter-cream, cream together the butter and sugar and milk, and add the vanilla extract.

7. Once the sponges are cooled, spread one with jam and the other with the butter-cream and sandwich together. Top with the remaining butter-cream, add a strawberry and ta-da!

Hope you enjoy :)