still hungry?

These beautifully colourful, icing-topped cupcakes make for a perfect tea break treat

Red velvet cupcakes 45 MINUTES + COOLING | MAKES 12 CUPCAKES | EASY

self-raising flour 150g

cocoa powder 1 tbsp

bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp

unsalted butter 50g, softened

caster sugar 150g

egg 1, beaten

vanilla paste 1 tsp buttermilk or kefir 100ml

vegetable oil 50ml

white wine vinegar 1 tsp

red gel food colouring 1 tbsp CREAM CHEESE ICING

slightly salted butter 100g, softened

icing sugar 225g

full-fat soft cheese 100g, stirred to loosen

1 Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases. Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas 4. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt into a bowl and mix to combine.

2 Using a stand mixer or an electric hand whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, vanilla, buttermilk, oil and vinegar until combined. Gradually mix the wet ingredients into the dried until smooth. Mix in the red food colouring until you have a deep red mixture – the colour may vary depending on what brand you use.

3 Divide the batter between the cupcake cases and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of one of the cakes comes out clean.

4 While the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Beat the butter and icing sugar using an electric whisk or by hand until pale and fluffy, then beat in the soft cheese for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Don’t worry if it seems loose, the more you whisk it the thicker it will become.

5 Once the cakes are cool, use a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle to cover the cakes with the cream cheese icing, or dollop the icing on top using a spoon.

PER CUPCAKE 337 kcals | fat 17.4G saturates 8.5G | carbs 41.8G | sugars 32G fibre 0.7G | protein 3G | salt 0.6G