Summer is, without a doubt, my favourite season. I adore the feeling of sunshine gently warming my skin, the atmosphere in the city, the long days, the lazy afternoons spent in the park, the feeling of walking barefoot in the grass, the spectacular sunsets…

And then the food: sipping on iced coffees, savouring inhaling the aroma of fresh red strawberries, grilled burgers at family BBQs, the dreamiest of sun drenched vine tomatoes, fresh herbs galore and the stone fruit – biting into a fuzzy, juicy peach, picture-perfect cherries.

I’m pretty gutted that we’re now in September and it’s all nearly over for another year. So, for the next few weeks I’m going to do my best to savour the last of the seasonal ingredients and share some more summery recipes with you!

First up: Chocolate. Cherry. Cupcakes.

A special summer treat.

^ shiny and ripe cherries. The stars of the show.

Beautiful AND delish.

Ugh. Get in my face.

Fluffy, moist, dark chocolate cupcakes, with generous swirls of whipped mascarpone cream, sprinkled with cocoa powder and topped with shiny, sweet cherries.

🍒🍫🧁 ❤

Dark chocolate and cherries – a perfect pairing.

Yum!

Honestly, I can’t get enough!

Grab a punnet of cherries and indulge yourself. =]

Enjoy,

– Kay

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 110g plain flour
• 160g caster sugar
• 50g cocoa powder
• 0.75tsp baking soda
• 120ml buttermilk
• 1 medium egg
• 50g salted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 heaped tsp instant coffee
• 100ml boiling water

Frosting

• 550ml double cream
• 50g icing sugar
• 50g mascarpone

Extras

• Cherries
• Cocoa powder

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark five and line a cupcake tin with 12 cases.
2. In a mug, add the boiling water to the instant coffee, stir to combine then set aside.
3. Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa and baking soda) to a large bowl and mix to combine.
4. To a separate bowl, add the butter, egg and buttermilk. Whisk well to combine.
5. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix till just combined before adding the coffee.
6. Mix to combine.
7. Divide the batter into the prepared cupcake liners and bake for 18mins or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Once done, cool on a wire rack.

Frosting and decoration

1. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until lightly whipped.
2. Add frosting to a piping bag with a large circular tip and pipe.
3. Using a sieve, dust over some cocoa powder before topping with the cherries.