What better than enjoying the tennis with some seriously tasty Pimms cupcakes?
For the cakes
- 150g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 15g cornflour
- zest of 1 small orange
- 175g soft unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 175g caster sugar (or, if you have it, golden caster sugar)
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 120g mixed raspberries and strawberries, hulled, roughly chopped and lightly crushed, plus some extra for decorating
For the syrup
- 150ml Pimm's
- 50g caster sugar
For the frosting
- 225g unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tbsp Pimm's
- 350g icing sugar
- mint leaves (for decorating)
- some cornflour (not definite - just in case, details in the method)
Sieve the flour, baking powder and cornflour into a large bowl. Stir in the orange zest.
BuBakes tip If, like me, you hate spending ages trying to wash your grater when a recipe calls for zest, just fold a piece of cling film and place that over your grater. Now grate as usual (in one direction only) and then gently lift the cling film up. Voila! minimal mess on the grater, and you just need to run the back of a knife over the clingfilm to remove the zest!
Alternately whisk in the beaten eggs and the flour mixture until combined.
BuBakes tip Add a spoonful of the flour mixture first to avoid the mixture curdling, and always make sure that your added ingredients are fully mixed before adding the next spoon of wet/dry.
Fold in the lightly crushed fruit.
BuBakes tip Make a small well in each cupcake in order to avoid excess rising in the middle. This helps to produce a lovely flat cupcake.
Bake for 25 minutes. The cakes will appear quite 'tanned', don't panic!
BuBakes tip to avoid sugar crystallising when the mixture cools, do not stir it while it heats, instead swirl the pan gently if needed.
Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture begins to bubble, Increase the heat and let it be for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy. Pour the syrup into a small jug.
Once the cupcakes are completely cool, generously pipe each one with the icing, then decorate.
Now with the remaining Pimms, mix yourself up a jug, sit back, and cheer on your players of choice!
Bu xx