Hot Cross Cupcakes

My mother made this recipe when I was a child. She baked a rectangle cake, she would ice it with pink glacé icing with a light dusting of cinnamon.. This recipe has been adapted from Mums Sultana Slice.

The cake is simply divine. Full of plumped sultanas, bursting with flavour. The freshly Microplaned nutmeg adds a delicate flavour and the cinnamon adds body. The light brown muscavado sugar adds a rich flavour and colour however you could also use caster or golden caster sugar if you have it to hand.

These cupcakes are fun to make with little kids and big kids. You simply need to heat a few ingredients in a saucepan and mix some ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon. The cupcakes are incredibly good smothered with cream cheese frosting or lashings of butter or served naked. These can be enjoyed at tea... breakfast... anytime...

Gluten Free? By simply substituting the plain flour you can also make the cake gluten free. I use Doves Farm plain white gluten free flour available here in the UK (which is a gluten free flour blend). The remaining ingredients and method are exactly the same – it tastes just as good. Most people would not know the difference. 

This recipe will make;

12-13 muffin size cupcakes baked at 170°C/350F for 18-20 minutes

44-48 miniature cupcakes baked at 170°C/350F for 12-14 minutes

Cake Ingredients

225ml whole milk

165 sultanas

125g unsalted butter

1 large free range egg

215g golden caster sugar

290g plain flour

2tsp ground cinnamon (I Microplane fresh nutmeg)

1tsp mixed spice

1tsp ground nutmeg

1tsp bicarb soda

Cake Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/340F. Prepare cupcake cases in your muffin tin. Weigh out all ingredients and set aside.

2. Place milk and sultanas in a saucepan. Heat the milk on medium, just before the milk comes to a boil remove the saucepan from the heat and add the 125g of unsalted butter. Then place the lid on the saucepan and allow the mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes. This resting time will allow the dried up sutanas to absorb the liquid creating plump luscious fruit.

3. Combine the flour, bicarb soda, cinnamon, mixed spice and Microplane the fresh nutmeg (or use ground nutmeg) then combine dry ingredients with a whisk and set aside.

4. Place the light brown muscavado sugar and the large egg into a large mixing bowl and combine with a whisk at first. You may find the sugar has become lumy, swap to a wooden spoon, simply apply some pressure and break down the sugar clumps as you stir.

5. Add the cooled sultana, milk and stir to combine (ensure the mixture is cooled as it will start cooking the egg). The mixture may look split at this point, this is normal.

6. Sieve the dry ingredients into the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined and the flour is no longer visible. Please do not over mix  

7. Evenly spoon the mixture into 12-13 cupcake cases. This mixture can also be used to make fairy cakes or miniature cupcakes. Please note the cooking time will very, simply bake one to test the cooking time if unsure. When making these as miniature cupcakes, I spray fry light sunflower oil directly onto the tray instead of using cupcake cases. 

8. Place the cupcakes into a preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cake is golden brown in colour, springs back to the touch your kitchen will be filled with a beautiful aroma. Place the cupcake tin on a wire rack to cool.

9.  The Cream Cheese Frosting can be made and refrigerated whilst the cake is baking. Click here for a demonstration. 

10. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely then ice with the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle some cinnamon to make a cross, or simply leave naked. These cakes will last up to 2 days in an airtight container. Cupcakes iced with cream cheese frosting will need to be refrigerated. These cupcakes can also be placed in an airtight container or individually wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. 

Please Note; There are many recipes for Cream Cheese frosting. This icing works on the principal 1 part unsalted butter, 1 part icing sugar to 2 parts cream cheese. Using this principle you can use the whole container of cream cheese and refrigerate or freeze any excess to avoid wastage.

Cream Cheese Frosting - Top Tips

• You MUST use full fat cream cheese. As the low fat and reduced fat cream cheese contains more liquid (and stabilisers).
• Use Unsalted butter as it contains less water, also I think it tastes better (personal preference, you can always add salt).
• You MUST use softened butter. If your butter is not softened, lumps will form and you will end up with lumps of yellow in the icing. You cannot beat these out once you have added the cream cheese as over mixing can result in the icing going runny. Check the butter just before use, if the ambient temperature in your kitchen is cold, the butter will begin to firm up immediately.
• Cream the butter and icing sugar first, this will help to avoid over beating the cream cheese frosting.
• Mix the icing once you have added the cream cheese. As the cream cheese is cold, it can start to firm up the butter if left unmixed – resulting in a lumpy icing.
• Sift icing sugar to avoid lumps.
• As a general rule, I mix 2 parts cream cheese with 1 part unsalted softened butter and 1 part sifted icing sugar, you can add vanilla extract to taste. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be adapted depending on the quantity of cream cheese you have to hand.
• Any excess cream cheese frosting can treble bagged, labeled and frozen for up to 3 months.