Peaches & Cream cupcakes

The perfect party present or super-sweet treat

Treat friends with super-sweet cakes and some special champagne. We guarantee these scrummy peaches and cream cupcakes will go down a treat.

Ingredients: 150g softened butter 150g caster sugar and extra for coating cases 3 eggs Seeds of vanilla pod or a couple of drops of vanilla extract 150g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground ginger Pinch of salt 2 perfectly ripe peaches, diced (canned are fine if these are not available, drain them well)

For the cream topping: 300ml double cream 60g icing sugar 1 tbsp stem-ginger syrup 2 pieces of stem ginger

Method: 1. Grease cake cases and coat with sugar. Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180°C/350°F.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar until it becomes pale and fluffy. Add one of the eggs, the vanilla and half the flour. Beat until mixed through. Add the rest of the eggs, flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt and beat together briefly.

3. Fold in the peaches and then spoon the mixture into the cake cases.

4. Bake for about 25 minutes (depending on the size of your cases) until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when touched. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.

5. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool. Make the cream by whipping the double cream, icing sugar and stem-ginger syrup until stiff. Thickly grate in the ginger and fold to combine. Reserve a little for the top and set aside.

6. Spread the cream over each cold cake with a palette knife and top with the reserved ginger and a slice of peach.