'Jam Donut Cupcakes'- with Raspberry and Chambord jelly centre, Baileys buttercream icing and sugar lime confetti

Well today I whipped up a bunch of my famous vanilla sponge cupcakes and wanted to do something a little bit different with them.  I had an unopen bottle of chambord liquer glistening at me from our 'cocktail shelf' (a shelf in our kitchen brimming with all sorts of different alcohols and liquers, somewhat wasted on us as we rarely drink, but we keep them in hopes of hosting out of this world cocktail parties....)  In any case it got me thinking back to my bartending days and one of my all time favourite 'shooters' the Jam Donut. 1/2 Chambord a lucious black raspberry liquer with baileys layered on top with a lime wedge coated with sugar which is sucked on after downing the shot.  Not the hardest of shots but very yummy.  I decided to make a cup cake made with the yummy jam donut flavours.

Seeing as I had already made vanilla sponge cake this is what I used but would be equally tasty with chocolate.

This is my vanilla cup cake recipe:
2 3/4 plain flour (sifted)
2tsp baking powder (sifted)
200g unsalted butter (yes butter not margarine)
1 3/4 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (i use wiltons)
1 cup milk
(makes about 24 cupcakes)

Cream butter for a few minutes (I do this all in my "wannabe" mixmaster) and in the caster sugar a little at a time until light and fluffy and sugar has almost disolved. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla extract beat again until fluffy.
Add a third of pre-sifted flour and baking powder and beat on low speed, add remaining flour and baking powder. Add milk a little bit at a time and beat until combined.

Spoon into cupcake cases in a muffin tray, bake for 15-20 minutes in a oven pre heated to 170-180 fan forced oven.  Let cool on wire rack.

Make sure you let your cakes cool completely before icing them- I have made this ill fated mistake before to end up with melty drippy unappealing icing.

Baileys buttercream icing
200g unsalted butter
approx 1/2 cup baileys irish cream
8 cups pure icing sugar

Cream the butter for a few minutes (always soften to just below room temp), add half the sugar and beat until light and fluffy adding baileys a drizzle at a time, add remaining icing sugar, make sure you have a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixture so everything is combined. 
I didnt measure my baileys i just kept tasting until it was a good flavour and good consistency. Keep beating until a thick but fluffy consistency.  If you're like me and live in a hot climate and want to display your cupcakes before they are eaten you will need to add more icing sugar to make the mixture stiffer to prevent falling, this is a bit of a balancing act because you dont want to lose the baileys taste but dont want it to sweet from excess sugar, play around knowing you can always add more sugar of more baileys and still come out with a yummy icing.



Chambord and Raspberry jelly
These measurements are estimates as I tend to free pour everything
4 cups frozen berries (mixed or raspbery)
1 cup chambord liquer
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-3tsp gelatin powder
Combine all but gelatin in a saucepan and bring to the boil, once boiling reduce to a simmer, simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced. You may need to add more sugar or lemon juice depending on the flavour you get. Let cool for 5 minutes and then  push mixture through a sieve smooshing the berries with the back of a spoon until all the yummy liquid is drained into a bowl underneath.  I discarded the seeds and pulp into the compost bin.  While the liquid is still warm gradually sprinkle  2-3 tsp of gelatin powder over the surface and stir in well until all disolved. This will vary according to the brand of gelatin you use and their instructions. Let cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.

When cupcakes are cool dig a well in the centre, make sure you dont dig all the way to the paper you need to leave some cake on the bottom so your jelly doesnt run everywhere and isnt wasted. This will give you lots of bits of cake, perfect to knock up a trifle or just hand the bowl to your man like I did, he made light work of an entire bowl of cake centres in under 5 minutes...
I grated some good dark chocolate and added about 1/2 tsp of the chocolate into the bottom of wells, you don't need to do this, but when has adding chocolate to something ever been bad?
Using a dessert spoon, spoon your jelly mixture into your cake wells, some will absorb into the cake just top it up with a bit more jelly mixture.  Put cakes in fridge to set, about an hour.
I iced them with a big swirl using wilton 1M icing tip, this gives you a big frilly swirl, I like lots of icing because really icing is always the best bit.

Garnish with lime sugar, you can buy this at some shops or you can make your own using caster sugar and fresh squeezed lime juice, add a drop of green food colouring to your lime juice to make it more vibrant. sprinkle lime juice onto enough sugar that it forms clumps, dont add to much or it will take ages to crystalise again, let dry and break big clumps with a mortar and pestle. Your lime sugar should have a nice lime zing.  If you add too much lime juice you could always just drizzle on top as a sauce which would taste just as nice.  Sprinkle over icing.

You're done, enjoy!  You should end up with a light vanilla sponge with a almost turkish delight like jelly centre, the baileys bttercream is very rich but some what moreish and the lime sprinkles cut the sweetness with their zing.  Hope you enjoy them as much as my friends and family do.