Baking for beginners: Drunken sunken cherry cupcakes

When you're the (proud?) mother to two young children, their presence in your home not only impinges on your ability to drink in the daytime, but also influences what you make in the kitchen.

However, for one day only I am reclaiming the cupcake, freeing the fairy cake and emancipating the muffin (whilst retaining the hundreds-and-thousands … there’s a little kid inside all of us!).

For this ever-so-slightly boozy take on the classic cherry cupcake, I'm using just that: a classic cupcake recipe. I've been using this for years, and what's great about it is that all the measurements are the same, making it pretty much failsafe (even if you are Hannah Hart).

These cakes are yummy, and you can mix it up by soaking your cherries in whatever booze takes your fancy. I'm opting for some good old-fashioned cherry brandy to add some kick to these cakes.

You'll need:

• 125g caster sugar
• 125g butter (soft)
• 125g self-raising flour
• 2 beaten eggs
• 12 fresh cherries (de-stoned)
• Some booze (rum, cherry vodka, brandy – whatever takes your fancy!)
• 2 bars of Dairy Milk
• More cherries and sprinkles to decorate

Make it!

• Sometime before you start, grab 12 ripe, fresh cherries, de-stone and leave to soak in a container of your favourite booze. The booze will still be fine to drink afterwards, if not somewhat improved by the infused flavour of fresh cherries!
• Preheat your oven to 190 degrees. Pop 12 cupcake cases into a cupcake tray.
  
• Make sure your butter is room temperature, and blend it together with the caster sugar. I like to use a wooden spoon for this bit; I read somewhere that wooden spoons make for a fluffier cake, so it’s become a habit.
• Once your blend is smooth and consistent, add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, and blend thoroughly after each addition.
• Sift your flour into the mix (some people double-sift at this stage, but for cupcakes I haven’t found this to be necessary). Once all the flour is added, take a metal tablespoon and gently fold the mixture together.
• Once all the ingredients are completely blended, it’s time to fill the cupcake cases. Distribute the mixture evenly between the cases, making sure that each case is about ¾ full. Before you put your cakes in the oven, you need to remove your booze-laden cherries one at a time from their alcoholic paddling pool and “sink” one into the centre of each cake.
• Put the cakes into the oven for 12 minutes, checking that they are golden brown and cooked through before removing (you can check this by pushing a metal skewer into the centre of one of the cakes – if the skewer comes out clean, the cakes are ready – if it has mixture on it, they need a few more minutes).
• Pop the cakes on a cooling rack, and get on with the topping. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and, once the cakes are completely cooled, slather the cakes in chocolate using a metal spoon. To spread the chocolate over the top, simply tap it with the spoon; this will disperse the liquid choc evenly without any mess.
• Decorate with sprinkles, cherries and anything else you fancy whilst the chocolate is still warm, then leave to cool.
• Eat!