Raspberry and cream sponge cake

Nothing groundbreaking here, just a standard victoria sponge with fruit and a whipped cream filling. However there is something extra lovely about filling and decorating a cake with homegrown raspberries and homemade jam (rhubarb and raspberry in this case.) 

It's hard to beat raspberries (or strawberries) and cream for a summery cake. It's light and fresh, perfect for a summer birthday.

Our "fruiting garden" is developing very nicely. I picked roughly 1kg of blackcurrants last night, our biggest haul to date. Next up will be the loganberries and second crop of raspberries. I know I should freeze some of them but they will most likely end up in jam as my obsession with making jam is still going strong. All the fruit means all the jam!

Rhubarb and raspberry tarts

As my pineapple tarts were such a raging success with my in-laws last month I couldn't resist making them again with some tweaks. I love a versatile recipe and this bake offers so many flavour possibilities by swapping out the jam filling.

For this version I used some of my homemade raspberry and rhubarb jam and coloured the icing on top pink. I also reduced the icing sugar in the whipped cream to 1tbsp (instead of 3 tbsp) and felt it balanced the sweetness of the jam better. I also had more time to assemble these tarts so they're a lot neater than my first batch.

The shortbread type pastry was better to work with this time, generally less crumbly although I didn't mix it very evenly for fear of over handling it. I'll perfect it eventually. It's worth the effort as it's so deliciously buttery.

We enjoyed the tarts as part of a mother's day high tea at my in-laws' house. I thought the tarts looked so cute on my favourite Royal Winton Grimwades 3 tier cake stand. Pastel perfection! It was lovely to have an excuse to use it. Long time readers (if they're still around?) may remember it from old posts, back when I used to take time to create pretty photos for the blog. Those were the good old days.

Don't be surprised if you see yet another version of these tarts on the blog. There's a strong possibility I'll try a lemon curd version for the Man's birthday next month.

lemon and blackcurrant cake

I've had the lemon and blackcurrant cake from the Clandestine Cake Club book bookmarked since it came out 10 years ago but have always been unable to make it as I couldn't get my hands on any blackcurrants. 

Not anymore! In addition to the "rhubarb empire" we inherited an established blackcurrant and gooseberry bush in our new garden so my lemon and blackcurrant cake dream finally became a reality! (More on the gooseberries another time.)

This cake did not disappoint, it was well worth the wait. Good job, as I had baked it for a family birthday. The sponge itself is almost pudding-like: slightly heavier and juicier in texture compared to a Victoria sponge due to the addition of blackcurrants and ground almonds and also a lemon drizzle soak. 

The blackcurrant coulis/quick jam was also outstanding. What a flavour and colour! I will admit to not quite having enough blackcurrants for it (guilty of eating too many blackcurrants through the week) so I subbed in some fruit from a bag of mixed frozen summer fruits, picking out the blueberries, blackberries and blackcurrants to keep the dark purple colour.

I can see myself making this cake every year which is a lovely thing to look forward to each summer. If you have blackcurrants or can get access to any then I highly recommend trying this recipe. I also recommend serving the cake with fresh berries and cream!

Lemon and blackcurrant(ish) cake 

Recipe mildly adapted from Clandestine Cake Club by Lynn Hill

Sponges:

250g Softened butter (I used Stork baking margarine)

250g Caster sugar

4 large eggs

250g Self raising flour

50g Ground almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

100g Blackcurrants 

Lemon soaking syrup:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp caster sugar

Coulis/jam filling

500g Blackcurrants (I only had 350g of fresh blackcurrants left so topped up the amount with a bag of frozen berries)

Approx. 100g Caster sugar (sweeten to taste)

Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C Fan/gas mark 5 and grease and line x3 8" (20cm) round cake tins with baking parchment.

Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour along with the lemon zest and ground almonds and mix until fully combined. Gently fold in the blackcurrants. 

Divide the cake batter between the 3 tins and smooth the tops evenly. Bake for approx. 20 minutes or until pale golden, well risen and firm to touch.

While the cake is in the oven, make the lemon syrup. Heat the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan on the hob until the sugar has dissolved and the mix becomes syrup-y. Remove from the hob and leave to cool then drizzle over/brush onto the cakes a few minutes after they have come out the oven.

For the berry filling, put the blackcurrants and caster sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook until the mixture turns into a thicker, jam-like consistency, roughly 5 minutes. Take off the hob and leave to cool.

Once both the sponges and filling are cool, assemble together by spreading the jam over two sponges then stack them on top of each other, then top with the remaining sponge. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar if you fancy extra flourish.

Adventures with rhubarb part 2: the trials and tribulations of making jam

"You should enter The Great British Bake Off", they say.

Little do they know I can basically only bake cakes. I would barely last a week in the tent as I am rubbish at jam and scones and have pretty much zero experience with bread and pastry.

I have made jam two or three times previously and all overset to the degree they could be used as cement mortar or silicone sealant. I was convinced the thermometer lied so threw it out after my last attempt. My last attempt also burned to the bottom of the pan so I became convinced my preserving pan base wasn't thick enough either. 

After moving house and discovering we had a rhubarb patch and gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes I knew it was time to conquer jam. I'm clearly not a natural, but determined nonetheless to learn. Luckily the sheer size of the rhubarb patch allows me to experiment without feeling like I've wasted too much money or precious fruit.

Armed with a different pan, new digital thermometer and a new recipe book I was ready to go!

Things I've learned about jam making in the last week:

I need a better preserving pan. I used my big Denby casserole dish this time as it has a heavy, thick base but it isn't quite tall enough for boiling jam as jam sparked EVERYWHERE. My kitchen was very sticky last week!

105C is not the "golden number" for jam setting, it's a rough guideline. I only found this out after reading "the basics" beginning section of my new jam making book, The National Trust Book of Jam. It was one of those penny dropping/light bulb moments and I suspect this could be where I've gone wrong in the past. Learning to "read" my jam will undoubtedly come with experience. For my rhubarb jam I discovered 102 - 103C was the best setting point.

Every jam is different, even when you're using the same recipe. It won't necessarily set the same even if you take it off the boil at the same temperature you used last time.

Pectin. Learn about pectin as this is what makes your jam set. Some fruits like strawberry and rhubarb are low in pectin, therefore need added pectin to help the jam set. This can be done by either using jam sugar (as opposed to granulated) and/or citrus like lemon juice. For my first batch I used jam sugar, but as I already had lemon and orange in the jam I found it made a firmer set. For subsequent batches I used half jam sugar and half granulated sugar and I felt it worked better.

For a complete jam novice I'm really pleased with my three attempts. Although the first batch is perhaps a bit too dark/over boiled, none of them are disasters. They are all edible and that's a vast improvement from previous attempts.

Batch 2 is definitely my best effort. I was initially worried it was under set but after spreading some on a scone (not baked by myself, as I said earlier, I'm crap at scones) I decided that it's actually spot on. It's incredibly tasty. There is something rather special about homemade jam.

Like the stewed rhubarb, the orange really lifts the rhubarb flavour in this jam. It's definitely a recipe I'm looking forward to perfecting over the years with my rhubarb patch.

There are also recipes for rhubarb and raspberry jam and rhubarb and strawberry jam in the National Trust Jam book which I'm keen to try later in the year. The Man and I have transplanted our young raspberry bushes and strawberry plants from our old garden so hopefully we'll have home grown raspberries and strawberries to enjoy with our home grown rhubarb in years to come.

Rhubarb, orange and ginger jam

Recipe from National Trust Book of Jam

 

1 kg rhubarb, washed and cut into 2cm slices.

1.1kg sugar (I used 500g jam sugar and 600g granulated sugar)

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 large orange

55g drained stem ginger in syrup

Start your prep the night before you intend to make your jam:

Layer up the chopped rhubarb, sugar and lemon zest in a large glass bowl then pour the lemon zest on top. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a cool place to soak overnight. Stir it before going to bed then again the following day before using.

Place the orange in a small saucepan and pour in enough water to almost cover it or at least half cover. Bring to the boil and simmer until the orange has softened, about an hour. Remember to turn the orange every so often to ensure it cooks evenly. Leave to cool in the pan and set aside.

The following day, wash and sterilize 4-6 glass jars and lids then place them on trays in the oven at a low heat, around 100C, while you prepare the jam.

Tip the rhubarb sugar mixture into your preserving pan. Put it on a low to medium heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Meanwhile drain the softened orange (discarding the water) and roughly chop it up. Chuck it in a blender with the stem ginger and blend into a paste. Alternatively, chop finely. Tip this mixture into the jam pan once the sugar has dissolved.

Now bring your pan to the boil, remembering to stir every so often and remove any scum which forms at the edge of the pan. It'll take about 10 minutes to thicken and come to a setting point, around 103 - 105C.

When you think it's ready take the pan off the heat and dab a small amount of jam onto a cool saucer then set the saucer in the fridge for 5 minutes. Push your finger through the cooled jam; if the jam "wrinkles" and leaves a trail, it's ready. If not, put the pan back on the heat and boil for longer.

Take the jars out the oven and ladle jam into them, filling right to the top. Put the lids on tight (or cover with waxed discs and cellophane tops with elastic bands) and add labels, naming and dating your jam. Store your jam in a cool place and keep in the fridge once opened.

Adventures with rhubarb part 1: stewed rhubarb and orange

I moved house at the end of last year. (I don't recommend selling, buying and moving house three days before Christmas, it was stressful.)

The garden at the new house, rather excitingly, has mature fruit bushes and a ginormous rhubarb patch. This is just my first gathering of rhubarb this year, I can already see I'll need to pick more in a few weeks time.

And what do you do when you inherit a rhubarb empire? Stew it, make crumbles and (try to) make jam!

Usually I stew rhubarb simply with sugar, occasionally pimping it up with ground ginger, cinnamon or vanilla extract, but this time I decided to follow a BBC Good Food recipe which added the zest and juice of an orange.

This flavour combination is a complete revelation, I don't know why I've never thought to pair orange with rhubarb. The orange lifts the tart rhubarb and gives it a sweet zing. It's insanely tasty. Even the Man had to admit it was delicious and he doesn't particularly like rhubarb. 

We enjoyed our stewed rhubarb and orange at the weekend with plain yoghurt and a handful of flaked almonds. A quick, fresh and simple dessert.

And this concludes part 1 in my rhubarb adventures. Stay tuned for part 2: the trials and tribulations of jam making.

Stewed rhubarb with orange

Recipe from BBC Good Food

500g-600g rhubarb, chopped into 2cm wide chunks

100g (ish) of caster sugar

Zest and juice of one orange

2 tbsp water

Put everything in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat until the rhubarb is softened but not mushy, around 8 minutes. Serve warm or cold alongside plain yoghurt, ice cream or custard.

rhubarb jam and vanilla muffins

I had quite a lot of rhubarb left over after making my almond and rhubarb cake so I thought I'd make some jam. I've only made jam once before and it didn't go well as it over set.

Yet again my inability to make jam struck again as my rhubarb jam over set, but somewhat confusingly my thermometer was nowhere near jam setting temperature. Eventually I took the jam off the heat as I knew it would have burned had I left it longer. The resulting jam is dense and sticky when the recipe said it should have a fairly loose consistency as it uses granulated sugar rather than preserving/jam sugar. I don't understand how I got this so wrong. Perhaps my jam thermometer is faulty?! Any insight gratefully received.

Anyway, the jam still tasted nice despite being solid, so it wasn't a complete write off. I read online that over set jam could be salvaged by heating it up with a small amount of water. I'm so glad I tried this! I've discovered that the reheated jam tastes amazing with plain yoghurt and berries.

Anyway, I digress. Basically I heated up enough jam to dollop teaspoonfuls of it in the middle of my muffin mixture before baking. The muffin recipe is the same as last time, but with a jammy centre instead of blueberries. I also sprinkled some porridge oats on top for a bit of texture and visual interest.

The muffins tasted lovely and more importantly I didn't drop the cake tin this time. If I don't end up eating all my reheated jam with plain yoghurt I think I'll bake these muffins again.

bakewell slices

I've been wanting to bake Bakewell slices for absolutely ages, at least a year, so I'm really pleased to have finally made them. That's one less bookmark in my baking books! I'm determined to work through more of them this year.

I made these slices for Mother's Day back in March as my Mum loves almond bakes. (Is it just me or does March already feel like an eternity ago?!) They went down an absolute treat and didn't hang around the cake tin for long.

I baked the shortbread base the night before and left it to cool overnight and made the frangipane topping the following morning. I often avoid recipes if they have too many stages or look too involved so this tactic worked nicely for me. Saying that, these slices really weren't difficult or particularly time consuming to make. The shortbread base is far less hassle (and mess) to put together than making pastry.

My only change to the recipe was adding almond extract to the frangipane mixture as I really wanted a strong almond flavour. I recommend it if you're also an almond fan. As I baked this a while ago I can't remember how much I added, likely no more than 1/2tsp as almond extract is pretty strong. A little goes a long way.

Mmmmmmm, frangipane, jam and shortbread. Not much else to say, really!


Bakewell slices
Recipe (slightly altered) from "Vintage Cakes" by Jane Brocket, published 2012

shortbread base:
200g plain flour
50g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
125g softened butter
1 large egg

Filling:
4 -6 spoonfuls (or more, I won't judge) of your preferred jam. I used raspberry

Frangipane topping:
125g softened butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g ground almonds
75g self-raising flour
1/4 - 1/2 tsp almond essence
handful of flaked almonds

Line a 20 x 30cm tin with greaseproof paper and set aside. Put the flour, ground almonds and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cube pieces and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl then add to the breadcrumb mixture. Using either a blunt knife or your hands mix it all together until it becomes a soft, sticky dough.

Press the dough into the lined tin, taking care to make sure it's evenly distributed and pushed into the corners and edges. Prick the dough all over with a fork (around 20 times) then cover with clingfilm and let it chill for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4 before you take the tin out of the fridge.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the base is dry and just starting to change colour. Be careful not to over bake it. Once baked, leave to cool on a wire rack while you prepare the topping. Leave the oven on if you're continuing with the topping.

For the frangpine, whisk together the butter and sugar in a large bowl (with a mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the ground almonds, flour and almond essence and fold everything together until everything is fully combined.

Once the shortbread base is cool (roughly 15 minutes after it's out the oven) spread a layer of jam on top. Carefully spread the frangipane on top of the jam, making sure the two don't mix together. Don't worry about it looking too neat though or being uneven around the edges. Scatter the flaked almonds on top then bake it for 22-25 minutes until risen and golden brown in colour. If a sharp knife/skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean then it's done. Leave to cool before removing from the tin. Once cool, cut into slices with a sharp knife. I cut mine into 16 although you can make them as big or small as you like.

raspberry trifle cupcakes

I'm just going to put this out there... these are the best cupcakes I've ever made, quite possibly the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. They are THAT. DAMN. TASTY.

I've had this recipe bookmarked in the Hummingbird Bakery's "Cake Days" book for 4 years. I knew I wanted to make it at some point, but due to my aversion to recipes which don't use the whole egg I've always grumbled at the 5 egg yolks listed in the custard topping ingredients and flicked the page. When was I ever going to have 5 egg yolks lying around?

Well guess who had exactly 5 egg yolks spare after making a meringue roulade last week? The stars had finally aligned!

These cupcakes were definitely worth the 4 year wait. Hell, I would make another meringue roulade just to have an excuse to make these cupcakes again. I need to stop being such an ass about not using whole eggs.

The creamy, custard topping is to die for. It pairs beautifully with the soft, fluffy, vanilla sponge and jammy, raspberry filling.

My only change to the recipe was baking the raspberries inside the cupcake as I love the squidginess of a baked raspberry. It also means that the cupcakes keep better, not that these will hang around for long. They are pretty addictive.

I could quite happily shove endless quantities of these cupcakes in my mouth and not get fed up with them. I have no shame.

I am also delighted to report that there were no tiny bugs in these raspberries. Each raspberry was thoroughly inspected. This is the first time I've bought raspberries since *that* incident. Wow, that was almost two years ago. You'd almost think I held a grudge...

Raspberry trifle cupcakes 
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery, "Cake Days", barely adapted.
The recipe looks long, but it really isn't that complicated. Don't feel put off!

sponge:
80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8.5oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
240ml (8.5fl oz) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, large

filling:
punnet of fresh raspberries
jar of raspberry jam

custard topping:
500ml (18fl oz) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
5 egg yolks
100g (3.5oz) caster sugar
30g (1oz) plain flour
30g (1oz) cornflour
200ml (7fl oz) double cream

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5 and line two cupcake trays with paper cases. (The mixture gave me 18-20 cupcakes.) Mix together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl with a mixer set at a low speed. The mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.

Whisk together the milk, vanilla and eggs in a jug with a fork. Pour 3/4 of this into the dry mixture while mixing on a slow speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed in. Add the rest of the egg mixture and mix again on a higher speed until the batter is smooth.

Fill each cupcake cases with the batter until about two thirds full and press a raspberry into the centre of each cupcake. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen, light golden and springy to touch. Leave to cool in the trays for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

While the cupcakes are in the oven you can make the custard topping. Combine the milk with the vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks with the sugar, flour and cornflour to create a paste. Add 1 tbsp of the heated milk if necessary. Remove the saucepan from the hob once the milk has boiled and pour 4-5 tbsp of it into the paste. Give the paste a mix then pour it into the saucepan with the milk and return to the heat. Bring the milk back to the boil, continually whisking to avoid lumps, and boil for a further minute to fully cook the flour. Pour this custard mixture into a baking tray and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool for 30-40 minutes.

Once cool, tip the custard into a large bowl (feel free to sieve the custard like me if you discover that it's a bit lumpy!) and beat with a wooden bowl to break it up. In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream into soft peaks, then fold the cream into the custard mixture. Now your topping is ready!

Using a sharp knife, cut a circular disc/hollow in the centre of each cupcake (until you reach the top of the raspberries baked inside), place roughly 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam in the centre, then press the cut off sponge back on top. Pipe or spread the custard on top of each cupcake, topping with an extra raspberry and some sprinkles for full on party trifle effect.

Baker's note: The cupcakes will keep/store better without the custard icing, so only ice as many as you're planning to eat at the time and keep the remaining custard in the fridge in a bowl covered with clingfilm.

strawberry cupcakes

It's Wimbledon season, the time of year when I swoon over Roger Federer and eat lots of strawberries. Sometimes swooning over Roger Federer whilst eating strawberries.

This year I have been swooning over Roger Federer (can you tell I like Roger Federer?) whilst eating strawberry cupcakes. Soft, fluffy, vanilla flecked cupcakes with juicy chunks of strawberries and topped with strawberry jam butter icing. These are seriously addictive. I could easily eat 3 in quick succession.

Jam mixed into butter icing is definitely my new favourite thing. I've tried raspberry and strawberry jams mixed into icing so I'm plotting which jam variation to try next. Any suggestions?

These strawberry printed cupcake cases have been sitting in my baking stash for at least two years, waiting for the right opportunity to be used. Aren't they cute? I've always felt that I couldn't just use them for any old cupcakes, they *had* to be strawberry flavoured. I'm surprised it has taken me this long to make strawberry cupcakes again (last baked here - god that was ages ago!)

I made these cupcakes to take on a summery picnic with my friends last week. The weather looked set to be glorious, so glorious that I ventured outside in bare legs(!) and sandals(!!) However by the time we arrived at our picnic destination the sky clouded over slightly and it became increasingly windy. It was strange weather: hot enough to promptly melt my friend's ice-cream and so windy that the melted ice-cream blew *everywhere* In hair, on arms, on tops, on trousers, on my legs! It was an eventful day out.

Strawberry cupcakes

cupcakes:

200g margarine/ softened butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

200g self raising flour

100g strawberries, chopped into relatively small chunks

icing:

250g icing sugar

125g softened butter

1-2tbsp strawberry jam (add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line two cupcake trays with cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the flour and mix everything together until fully combined. Stir in the strawberry chunks until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, until 2/3 full. I got 18 cupcakes from this mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, light golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tray for a couple of minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, beat together the icing sugar and butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in the jam and mix for another few minutes. Spread the icing on top of the cupcakes with a palette knife. I'd recommend increasing the amounts (by about half perhaps?) if you'd prefer to pipe the icing on as this only gave a relatively thin covering per cupcake.

coconut cupcakes - half with raspberry jam, half with (questionable) pineapple curd

Last week I was posessed with the idea of making summery pineapple curd to put inside coconut cupcakes. However there was a major flaw in my tropical plan: I'm a lazy low faff baker.

All the pineapple curd recipes I came across online only used egg yolks and I cannot be arsed with recipes which only use half the egg. (Now you know why I rarely make meringues!) The number of times I've set aside the other half of the egg with the best of intentions to bake something with it, only to eventually throw it away as I inevitably forget about it is annoying. And wasteful.

So I set about inventing a pineapple curd recipe loosely based on a few whole egg curd recipes. The resulting curd tastes lovely and is a glorious sunshine yellow but is sadly more like a grainy, runny sauce than a curd. I decided against putting it inside the cupcakes but mixed a few teaspoonfuls into the icing and have eaten some drizzled on top of a cupcake. It definitely adds to the overall flavour of the cupcake, but I'm kicking myself for not following an actual pineapple curd recipe.

Without the curd I find the cupcake a bit "meh". Coconut is a funny flavour for me. I think it's a subtle, secondary element or an additional texture. It needs to be paired with a strong flavour such as pineapple, raspberry, lime or chocolate to bring it to life.

Following the disappointment of my pineapple not-quite-a curd I split my coconut cupcake batch to produce a raspberry and coconut combination too. For these I put raspberry jam in the centre and whipped a few teaspoonfuls into the butter icing. I've seen a few people mix jam into icing but have never tried it myself. It is so tasty, why haven't I done this before?! Move over malt chocolate icing, this is my new obsession.

The girly girl in me is filled with glee by eating something which looks so pink and fluffy. The bright jammy centre just adds to the girly excitement. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed raspberry and coconut as a pairing.

Unsurprisingly the raspberry batch are the winners for me. However had the curd worked I think these would have been pretty special too as pineapple and coconut is such a fresh and summery flavour combination. I'll just have to suck it up one day and make a pineapple curd using only egg yolks!

Coconut cupcakes - half with raspberry jam, half with pineapple curd

6oz/ 170g margarine/ butter

6oz/ 170g caster sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5oz/ 140g self raising flour

1oz/ 30g desiccated coconut (plus extra to top the cupcakes at the end)

2 tablespoons of milk 

filling:

1 jar raspberry jam

1 jar pineapple curd - I won't write what I did as it didn't particularly work but you can find a few different pineapple curd recipes here, here or here.

  
butter icing (covers both batches):

150g softened butter

300g icing sugar

2-3 teaspoons of raspberry jam/pineapple curd (add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan/Gas 4 and line a couple of cupcake trays with cases. In a small bowl, soak the desiccated coconut in the milk. Whilst that's soaking, beat together the margarine and sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour mixture with the last egg to stop the cake mixture from curdling. Tip in the milky coconut, vanilla extract and remaining flour and mix until everything is fully combined. 
 

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases (I think I got 16 from the mixture) and bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes until the cupcakes are light golden in colour, well risen, and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. 

For the icing, beat together the butter and icing sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Split the icing in half, adding a few teaspoons of raspberry jam to one batch and curd to the other. Mix both icings thoroughly.

Using a sharp knife, cut a circular disc from the top of each cupcake and pop a teaspoonful of jam or curd inside and replace the top. Spread or pipe the icing on top and liberally cover with (toasted) desiccated coconut.