Spiced Blackberry Ripple Cupcakes

I'm back with my first bake in weeks, but I went back to my Mum's to use her oven... ha ha. Our house is still a little dusty from all the work we're doing so I thought it would be better to go back to where I knew it was clean! The blackberries used in this recipe were picked just around the corner from my house, and combined with the spices in the sponge, they make for a great transitional flavour combination as we head from summer to autumn.



Ingredients:
3oz blackberries
1tbsp caster sugar

7oz unsalted butter
6oz caster sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
7oz self raising flour
1/2tsp baking powder
3tbsp milk
1/2tsp ground ginger
1/2tsp mixed spice
1/2tsp ground cardamom seeds


5oz unsalted butter
10oz icing sugar
Pink food colouring
Honeycomb Matchmakers to decorate

Pre-heat your oven to 170c and line a muffin tin with cases.

Start by making the blackberry ripple. Combine the berries and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. The berries should breakdown to make a sauce, but if they're still quite big, give them a mash with a potato masher. Boil for a minute, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool while you make the sponge mix.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and give it a quick stir before sifting in the flour and baking powder. Fold the mix together until smooth, then add the milk and spices and give it one final mix.

Place a generous teaspoon of sponge mix into the bottom of each case, followed by a teaspoon of the blackberry sauce. Repeat this until the cases are 3/4 full, and bake for 25-28 minutes. They should be risen, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack while you making the topping. 

In a bowl, cream together the butter and icing sugar until it's soft and creamy. Add a few drops of pink food colouring to give the buttercream a soft pastel colour, and mix well.
Once the cakes are cool, spoon the buttercream into a piping bag and swirl onto the cakes. Add half a Matchmaker to decorate and that's it! Done!