Battenberg Cupcakes

Yellow and pink almond cupcakes, filled with apricot jam, topped with yellow and pink almond buttercream and mini battenbergs

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cupcake

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 25

Decorating time 30

Total Time 1 20

Servings

Calories 517kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

175 g Baking spread or butter softened, unsalted
175 g Caster sugar
3 Eggs large
1 tsp Almond extract
175 g Self raising flour
Yellow food colouring I used Colour Mill
Pink food colouring I used Colour Mill

For the filling (optional)

175 g Apricot jam

For the buttercream

200 g Butter unsalted, softened
400 g Icing sugar
1 tsp Almond extract
2-3 tbsp Milk
Yellow food colouring I used Colour Mill
Pink food colouring I used Colour Mill

For decoration

5 Mini battenbergs sliced up

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 140C Fan/325F/Gas Mark 3, and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases
For the cupcake sponge, mix together the baking spread and caster sugar, ideally using an electric hand mixer or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, for 5 minutes until smooth and fluffy
Add the eggs and almond extract, and mix them in well
Then gently whisk, or fold in, the self raising flour
Split the batter into two bowls. Add pink food colouring to one and mix it in, then add yellow food colouring to the other and mix it in
Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases, filling each cupcake case with half pink batter and half yellow batter. Bake them for 25-30 minutes or until a thin skewer inserted in the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean. Put them on a rack to cool completely
Use a cupcake corer or a knife to make a hole in the middle of each cupcake, fill each hole with the apricot jam
For the buttercream, mix the softened butter on it's own for a few minutes. Then add the icing sugar, almond extract and milk, and mix until smooth. You can do this by hand, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer with paddle attachment will provide the best results. If the buttercream is too stiff, you can add a little more milk
Split the buttercream into two bowls. Add pink food colouring to one and mix it in, then add yellow food colouring to the other and mix it in
Fill a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle, with the pink buttercream on one side and the yellow buttercream on the other side. Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcakes
Decorate with the slices of mini battenberg
Store in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days

Video

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
I recommend using a good quality almond extract for the perfect flavour. I like Nielse Massey.
Use a professional grade food colouring for the best results. These types of food colouring not only provide excellent colour results, but they are gel based so they do not make the buttercream sloppy. They are also easily available for purchase online. My favourite brands are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. Other good quality brands are Colour Mill and Americolor.
For more information on how to bake perfect cupcakes, check out my Vanilla Cupcakes recipe!
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition