Raspberry Trifle Cupcakes

We decided to start off with Raspberry Trifle Cupcakes, both agreeing they looked pretty good. They consist of a plain vanilla sponge with a raspberry, jam and custard filling topped off with custard and cream icing.
This was the first time either of us had made custard from scratch so it was definitely going to be a bit of a challenge, but they turned out pretty well, despite cooling the custard for a bit too long! This did make our custard slightly harder than expected when we took it out the fridge, however, it was nothing a bit of whisking couldn't fix as we managed to get it to the right consistency to pipe on.


We both thought they were pretty good cupcakes, however, we did think there was quite a lot of the custard/cream as it was the icing and inside the cake. Therefore we, personally, would only put the custard/cream on top of the cake and add extra jam in the middle to make a better jam to custard ratio. Other than that, we enjoyed them and would definitely make them again!


Recipe:
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)
Makes 12-16 cupcakes

For the sponge:           
            80 g unsalted butter, softened

• 280 g caster sugar
• 240 g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 0.24 tsp salt
• 240 ml whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 large eggs

For the Filling and Frosting:

• 500 ml whole milk
• ½ tsp vanilla essence
• 5 egg yolks
• 100 g caster sugar
• 30 g plain flour
• 30 g cornflour
• 200 ml double cream
• 32 fresh raspberries
• 100 g raspberry jam

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190C / gas mark 5, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.
• Using a handheld electric whisk, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients are well mixed and resemble fine breadcrumbs.
• In a jug, whisk together the milk, vanilla essence and eggs by hand, then pour three-quarters of this into the dry ingredients, while mixing on a slow speed. Beat together, scraping down the sides of the bowl, to make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add the remaining milk mixture and beat again, on a medium speed, until the batter is smooth.
• Divide the batter between the muffin cases, filling each one two-thirds. Any remaining batter ca be used to fill up to four more cases in an additional tin. Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until the sponges bounce back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool down fully.
• While the cupcakes are cooking, make the custard for the filling and topping. Place the milk in a saucepan with the vanilla essence and bring to the boil. In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, sugar, flour and cornflour to make a pasta, adding 1tbsp of the hot milk to thin it, if necessary.
• When the milk has boiled, remove the pan from the heat and mix 4-5 tbsp with the egg and flour paste, then pour this back into the pan with the remaining hot milk and return to the heat. Bring back up to the boil, whisking constantly, and continue to boil for a further minute to ensure the flour and cornflour are fully cooked. Pour the custard into a baking tray, cover with clingfilm and set aside to cool for 30-40 minutes.
• Tip the cooled custard into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps. In a separate bowl whip the double cream into soft peaks, either by hand or using an electric whisk. Fold the whipped cream into the custard and use to fill a piping bag (if using).
• Using a sharp knife, make a hollow in the centre of each cupcake - approximately 2cm in diameter and 3cm deep - retaining the cut-out pieces of sponge. Place a raspberry upside down in the hollow of each cake, then spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam on top, followed by the same amount of custard, either piped of spooned into the hollow.
• Replace the cut-out pieces of sponge, trimming to fit and pressing down gently to ensure that the top is level with the rest of the cake, then pipe or spoon the custard topping in a circular motion (like whippy ice cream) on top of each cake. Add a fresh raspberry on top of the swirled custard to finish!

Thanks for reading,

Olivia xx