Step 1

Preheat your oven to 160C Fan / 180C and prepare a cupcake / muffin tin with cases.

Step 2

Place all your sponge ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined and thoroughly mixed (1 minute should do it).

Step 3

Divide the mixture between the cases. I fill mine just over 2/3 full.

Step 4

Place in the oven for between 20-25 minutes until cooked through. To check if the cupcakes are cooked, insert a skewer and if it comes out clean, it's done!

Step 5

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Step 6

For the buttercream, ensure your butter is soft and at room temperature. I find it takes a good hour out of the fridge to soften, but never let it go too soft! Place your butter into a stand mixer and mix on a medium speed for about 5 minutes until the butter has gone a lot more pale in colour.

Step 7

Add your icing sugar gradually. I add it in 2-3 stages and beat for about 3 minutes between each addition. Start your mixer slowly to save your kitchen from a real icing sugar mess, but then increase the speed to medium / high for each of your 3 minutes.

Step 8

Add your vanilla extract and mix once more - it should now be done. Ensure it's the right thickness - it should be if you've beaten it for long enough. However, if it's too thick you can add a tiny amount of milk. And if too thin, sieve in a little extra icing sugar - this might be the case for dairy free buttercream using hard margarine.

Step 9

Once the cupcakes are cool, you need to make little holes in your cupcakes to fill with the jam, use something circular to make a small hole - just make sure you don't go too deep as you need some of the cake beneath to hold the filling!

Step 10

Spoon some filling into the hole you've made in each cupcake.

Step 11

Spoon your buttercream into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Then pipe your buttercream on top. If you don't want to pipe it, you can spoon it on top too!