Recipe: Peach and Raspberry Cupcakes

Ok my promise to be a better blogger didn’t go particularly well... but in my defence after I wrote the last post the UK got hit by a serious heatwave! I know temperatures of over 30 degrees are normal in a lot of the world but here it really isn’t and the UK is not set up to deal with extreme heat (only shops and the like tend to have air conditioning for example) and I don’t cope well in hot weather. Seriously for the last month I haven’t been able to think about anything more intelligent than ice cream! If I could get to my ice cream maker easily (and had space in the freezer) I would have posted some ice cream recipes for something, but I haven’t been able to and my freezer is full. The only advantages of this crazy weather is that my potted herbs are growing nicely and the solar powered fountain in my garden is working! But all is not lost, last week there was a brief temperature drop and I was able to do some baking!

So here is my latest cupcake recipe, I know a recipe post on a Friday? Well I've decided to drop "Monday Recipes" and just post recipes when I have them to post! I’m afraid this post marks a return to the fruity cupcakes though.

For once these cupcakes were not made in the cupcake maker, but they should work in there though! Obviously they’ll be smaller and you’ll probably get more cakes than the stated amount. Please play around with the quantities of fruit to get the amount you prefer, the stated quantities arose from me using whatever I had lying around!

Makes 12

Ingredients
115g/4oz softened butter
115g/4oz caster sugar
115g/4oz self-rising flour
2 eggs
110g fresh raspberries
1 peach, approx 110g in weight

Method
Gently wash the raspberries put them to one side to dry out. Chop up the peach into small chunks, I left the skin on but feel free to remove it if you prefer that.

Cream together the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs. Sift the flour and fold into the mixture, then fold in the peaches and raspberries. Divide the mixture evenly between 12 paper cases and bake in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 4/180 C for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy. In normal temperatures these cakes should keep for a few days in an airtight tin, beware in hotter climates the cakes may spoil quickly due to the fruit content.