Jemma says: “Towards the end of summer, we are blessed with an abundance of apples and blackberries here in the UK and, if you’re lucky, you can easily forage both while walking about, even in the city. One of the best things to do with them is, of course, an apple and blackberry crumble. Filled with a tart apple sauce, topped with a beautifully and naturally pink blackberry buttercream and finished with crunchy granola to replicate the classic pud, this is one of our favourite seasonal cupcake flavours.”

Makes 12

Ingredients

For the Blackberry Goo:

• 400g frozen or fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, forest fruit mixes and cherries work well)
• 125g caster sugar

For the apple sauce:

• 300g apple (1 large Bramley or 2 Braeburn), peeled and cored
• 50g unsalted butter
• 50g soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the granola topping:

• 30g honey
• 10g soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1⁄8 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 50g rolled/porridge oats
• 15g pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
• 15g sunflower seeds
• 10g sesame seeds
• 15g almonds, finely chopped
• A pinch of sea salt
• A pinch of ground cinnamon

For the apple sponge:

• 140g apple, peeled and cored (we like Braeburn, Bramley or Cox varieties)
• 125g self-raising flour
• 1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g soft light brown sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp treacle

For the blackberry buttercream:

• 285g unsalted butter, softened
• A pinch of sea salt
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 1⁄2 tbsp Blackberry Goo or jam

To finish:

• 12 fresh blackberries

Method

Make the Blackberry Goo in advance, so that it is cool for when you need to use it:

Tumble the berries into a saucepan and add the sugar. Over a medium heat, melt down the fruit and cook until bubbling, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20–40 minutes (the time depends on the type of fruit and how thick you want your goo to be). Make sure you give it a stir every now and then to make sure it doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom of the saucepan. If it looks as though it’s headed in this direction, reduce the heat further.

When it’s a loose jammy consistency, take your goo off the heat. While it is still warm, push through a fine sieve to get rid of any lumpy pulp or seeds. Sometimes, the sieving process reveals that you haven’t actually achieved ‘peak goo’, especially for fruits with a lot of seeds, such as raspberries. In this case, return the sieved goo to a saucepan and reduce a bit more over a low heat.

Leave to cool before transferring it to an airtight container. Refrigerate until you need it. Goo will keep in the fridge for up to a week

For the apple sauce:

Chop the apple into 1cm/½in cubes.

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.

Cover with a lid, reduce the temperature to low and allow it to bubble for about 10 minutes, giving it a stir every once in a while to help the apples heat evenly and break down a bit, until you have a nice thick sauce. Leave to cool.

For the granola topping:

Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Melt together the honey, sugar, water, vanilla and oil in a small saucepan over a low–medium heat, stirring until all of the sugar has completely dissolved.

Meanwhile, combine all of the dry ingredients and spices in a mixing bowl and, when the sugar/honey solution is ready, pour it over the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly so everything is well coated.

Spread the mixture over the baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, then take it out and give everything a stir to break it up. Reduce the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) and bake for a further 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then break up any big nuggets and put it all into an airtight container until you need it.

For the apple sponge:

Increase the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

Coarsely grate the apple into a bowl. You then need to squeeze the juice out. The best way to do this is to use a potato ricer (like a giant garlic press), but if you don’t have one, put all of the grated apple into a clean tea towel or muslin, twist the top and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Keep the bowl of juice to use later in the cupcake sponge.

Put 100g of the grated, strained apple into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour, bicarb and sugars, then add the butter and eggs and mix on a medium speed for about 30 seconds to combine.

Add 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of the reserved apple juice and the treacle and beat the mixture for another 30 seconds, giving it a stop ‘n’ scrape halfway through to catch any bits that got stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Distribute the batter evenly among the paper cases until they are three-quarters full. Bake for 18–20 minutes until they are springy to the touch. Leave to cool.

For the blackberry buttercream:

In a stand mixer or mixing bowl, beat the soft butter and salt on a high speed for at least 5 minutes until it is very pale and whippy. Add the sifted icing sugar in two stages, beating for 3–5 minutes after each addition. Add the blackberry goo (or jam) and beat it in until you have a beautiful pink, smooth, spreadable, voluptuous buttercream, adding more goo if you feel it’s too stiff. Cover and set aside until you are ready to assemble.

To finish:

Use an apple corer to remove the centres of the cupcakes, then put the apple sauce into a piping bag and use it to fill the cupcake holes.

Put the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe generous bright pink swirls on top of each cupcake. Place a blackberry into the middle of the icing on each cupcake and surround that with the granola topping.

Jemma says: “We all remember those naff Ferrero Rocher adverts from the ’80s and ’90s, but these cupcakes are anything but naff. Light chocolatey hazelnut sponge, filled with whipped hazelnut cream, topped with hazelnut buttercream, then dunked in chocolate and rolled in nuts. Perfect for the ambassador’s reception, and anyone else who wants one!”

Makes 12

Ingredients

For the hazelnut buttercream:

• 285g unsalted butter, softened
• 1⁄4 tsp sea salt
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp hazelnut butter (recipe below)
• 1 1⁄2 tbsp milk

For the hazelnut butter:

• 250g nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts and pistachios work brilliantly)
• A pinch of sea salt or sugar (optional)

For the hazelnut sponge:

• 115g self-raising flour
• 10g cocoa powder
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 115g caster sugar
• 10g soft light brown sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 11⁄2 tbsp milk
• 25g Hazelnut Butter

For the filling:

• 100ml double cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp Hazelnut Butter

To finish:

• 200g dark chocolate (50% cocoa solids), melted
• ½ tsp cocoa butter, melted
• 100g hazelnut nibs or chopped roasted hazelnuts

Method

First, make the hazelnut butter: 

Preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Spread the nuts over one or two baking trays and roast them in the oven for 5–8 minutes, then remove.

If your chosen nuts have skins on them, such as hazelnuts, you’ll want to remove as much as you can before you put them in the blender. The best way to do this is to tip the warm nuts into the middle of a clean tea towel, gather up the corners to create a little bag, then use your other hand to rub and squish the nuts against each other. The skins will come away from the nuts and stop the nut butter from taking on their bitter flavour.

Let the nuts cool so that they’re slightly warm, then tip them into a food processor and blitz for 10–15 minutes. The change the nuts go through is really interesting. Everything starts off really dry, then clumpy and crumbly, then as more of the oils are released it almost liquefies, becoming a smooth, sometimes runny, paste that you can use wherever a recipe asks for a nut butter or paste.

Add salt or even sugar if you like, to season. Nut butter will keep for up to 4 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge, or up to 1 week at room temperature.

For the hazelnut buttercream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and salt together on a high speed for at least 5 minutes until the butter has turned a very pale yellow and the texture is smooth and whippy.

Add half of the icing sugar and bring together on a slow speed to avoid plumes of sugar jumping out of the bowl, then beat vigorously for a few minutes before repeating with the remaining icing sugar. Beat until you have a pale, almost white, fluffy mixture.

Beat in the hazelnut butter, then the milk, a little at a time. Depending on the softness of your butter and the temperature of your kitchen, you might not need to add all of the milk, or you may even need a bit more. You’re looking for a smooth, whippy buttercream that has a spreadable consistency and holds its shape. 

Cover and set aside.

For the hazelnut sponge:

Preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C fan) and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

Sift the flour, cocoa, salt, bicarb and sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl. 

Add the butter and eggs, and beat on a medium–high speed for 30 seconds until well combined. Add the milk and hazelnut butter and beat for 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom halfway through, until you have a smooth batter.

Distribute the batter evenly among the paper cases until they are three-quarters full.

Bake for 18–20 minutes until the tops spring back when gently pressed. Leave to cool.

For the filling:

In a bowl, whip the cream, sugar and hazelnut butter with a balloon whisk until medium-soft peaks are forming, then put the mixture into a piping bag.

To finish:

Using an apple corer, remove the centre of each cupcake, then fill the holes with the cream filling. Take care not to overfill.

Put your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle and squeeze a neat blob of buttercream on top of each cupcake.

Put the iced cupcakes in the fridge for 15 minutes while you melt the chocolate for the topping in a bain-marie or in the microwave in short bursts. Add the melted cocoa butter and stir to combine, then leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Dip the chilled iced cupcake tops into the chocolate, allowing the excess to dribble back into the bowl. Sprinkle with hazelnuts to finish.

Jemma says: “If you go to New York, you must try the famous Cereal Milk soft-serve from Milk Bar. Christina Tosi, the iconic bake-shop’s founder, is an inspiration to many, including us, so we had to pay tribute to this epic dessert by cupcakifying it! Reminiscent of the milk left at the bottom of the bowl after you’ve eaten all the cereal, the cereal milk flavour is subtle but so evocative.”

Makes 12

Ingredients

For the Malty Cornflakes:

• 30g malted milk powder (such as Horlicks)
• 30g caster sugar
• A pinch of sea salt
• 75g unsalted butter, melted
• 120g plain cornflakes

For the cereal milk:

• 50g cornflakes
• 20g soft light
• Brown sugar
• 400ml milk
• A pinch of sea salt

For the cereal milk sponge:

• 125g self-raising flour
• 1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1⁄8 tsp sea salt 125g caster sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp Cereal Milk (see left)

For the cereal milk buttercream:

• 285g unsalted
• Butter, softened
• 1⁄4 tsp sea salt
• 1⁄4 tsp malted milk powder (such as Horlicks)
• 450g icing sugar, sifted 11⁄2 tbsp Cereal MilkCr

To finish:

• Rainbow sprinkles

Method

Make the Malty Cornflakes and set aside for later:

Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Combine the malted milk powder, sugar and salt in a small bowl and give it a good stir. 

In a separate large bowl, pour the melted butter over the cornflakes and toss them all around so that they are all covered in butter.

Sprinkle over the dry ingredients and stir everything well so that every cornflake is covered in a malty, sugary, buttery coating.

Scatter and spread the mixture out across the baking trays, separating the cornflakes as much as possible. Bake for 10 minutes.

Leave to cool, then break up any large cornflakey masses and store in an airtight container, ready to use in all manner of delicious ways (if you can resist eating them all as they are, of course!).

For the cereal milk:

Preheat your oven to 160°C (140°C fan). Spread the cornflakes evenly over a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Put the still-hot cornflakes into a saucepan along with the sugar, milk and salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for a couple of minutes. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then strain out the cornflakes and set the liquid aside to cool.

For the cereal milk sponge: 

Increase the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, bicarb, salt and sugar. Add the butter and eggs and beat on a slow speed, increasing to medium and mixing for 30 seconds (longer by hand) until well combined. Add the cereal milk and beat for 30 seconds, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl so you don’t miss any bits. You should have a smooth batter with no lumps.

Distribute the batter evenly among the paper cases until they are three-quarters full. Bake for 18–20 minutes until the tops spring back when pressed. Leave to cool.

For the cereal milk buttercream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a mixing bowl, beat the butter, salt and malt powder together for 5 minutes until really pale and whippy. Add the icing sugar in two stages, beating vigorously for 3–5 minutes after each addition. Add the cereal milk a little at a time, beating for 3–5 minutes until you have a spreadable buttercream that holds its shape.

To finish:

Fill a piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle with the buttercream, then pipe neat swirls on top of your cupcakes. Finish with the malty cornflakes and colourful sprinkles.