I know, they sound a little odd…but strawberries and black pepper are often paired so why shouldn’t strawberry & black pepper cupcakes make a great combination? These will not be for everyone, if you like a little kick along with the sweetness of strawberry jam then hopefully you will love these. And dare I say it, there are Valentine’s day hints everywhere, these make for a more masculine cake or definitely for those that don’t have a particularly sweet tooth.
I have iced them purely for blog photos but personally I think these cakes look sooo pretty completely naked. Maybe a sprinkling of icing sugar?
I went for strawberry jam rather than strawberries purely because it was what I had in the cupboard and strawberries can be so expensive at this time of year. Adjust the amount of black pepper according to taste, I was slightly heavy handed and my children have called these strawberry & black pepper cupcakes ‘spicy’…however it hasn’t stopped them from demolishing them.
As you can see from the photos, I put about half a teaspoon of jam on top of the cake mixture and then gently swirled it with a cocktail stick so that there was delicious strawberry jam running through the cake.
So, who celebrates Valentine’s day? As I am single I tend to forget about it usually but this year I have been very aware of it hence I jumped on the band wagon to bring you cute little heart shaped cakes, obviously don’t go out and buy a heart shaped cupcake tin if you don’t have one, use an ordinary one.
So this Valentine’s day I get a rare child free night, however not a great night to go out unless I want to share every single bar or restaurant with couples out for a romantic evening. It will be a bottle of wine and I will cook myself something nice to eat and watch a film. To be honest, it sounds like the perfect night to me and no fighting over the remote control. I am more than happy for a little me time.
Strawberry & Black Pepper Cupcakes recipe
Rating
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
- 125g soft butter (or stork)
- 100g caster sugar
- 125g self-raising flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp strawberry jam
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 60 ml milk
- Preheat oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6
- Put all the ingredients except for the milk and jam into a food processor/mixer and blitz until smooth.
- Add the milk slowly to make a soft dropping consistency.
- If doing in the traditional way, cream the butter and sugar, and then the eggs one at a time adding a spoonful of flour each time and fold in the remainder of the flour& baking powder.
- Add in the milk as above.
- Spoon the mixture into cake cases.
- Add a dollop (1/2 tsp) of jam on to each and use a cocktail stick to swirl through the cake mixture.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked and golden.
- Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
- Decorate with icing or just a sprinkling of icing sugar when they are cool.
If you want to ice the cakes, use either glace icing or fondant icing if you want a glossier finish. Otherwise I think these are perfect with a sprinkling of icing sugar. Enjoy.
Â
Oh yummy! Good idea to make them as hearts! So good for Valentines Day!
Thank you very much
Wow strawberry and black pepper, the mind boggles x
They’re different 😉
what a great combination of flavours mmmm yummy
Thanks 😀
I’m a fan and all too familiar with the combination of strawberries with both black and white pepper but I have never seen them in cake form. These sound really interesting.
Thank you.
These look so cute! I’ve never tried that combination before but it sounds interesting!
Thank you! 🙂
They look lovely but I’m not sold on pepper in my cakes I’m afraid
No worries, not for everyone but it’s not a new idea 🙂
Not sure about adding black pepper but I guess you have to try them
You do 😉
What an interesting combination. They do look delicious!
Thank you very much
These cook perfect for Valentine’s day. I love all your pictures. I know I would love strawberry and Black pepper combination.
Thank you very much 🙂
oh these sound interesting!
Thanks! 🙂
These look so pretty! Not sure about the black pepper, I like more traditional cakes I guess, but gorgeous photos x
Thank you
I want to say eww black pepper but strangely these look so good, I would quite like to try them.
Haha, they won’t be for everyone
What an interesting combo, I bet they taste lovely! xxx
Thanks, they were rather nice
These look divine. I love cakes but don’t have a sweet tooth so this would be my dream cake.
thank you very much 🙂
My husbeast doesn’t like too sweet cakes, so this would be right up his street.
Oooo, perfect! x
This looks so different I bet they taste amazing! 🙂
Thanks, yes I like the combination
Such a great idea! I don’t have a massively sweet tooth, so they sound right up my street – and would be great to give the boyfriend a surprise with the black pepper! 😀
Thank you, I hope he likes them 🙂
These sound really interesting – I love strawberries and black pepper so would love to try them. And they look absolutely beautiful.
Thank you very much
and this is the reason i cant wait to get moved into my new home as i need my kitchen space , they look delicious x
Oh I bet, and thank you 🙂
My husband does love black pepper – we are staying in so will give them a whirl.
How about treating yourself to a nice candle lit soak in the bath with a glass of wine instead of going out?
I hope he likes them. I am staying in so there will be wine and a film 🙂
Oh my goodness these look utterly amazing! so clever! .. i might have ago at these
Thanks very much! I hope you like them 🙂