Wimbledon: Great British Baking

Our culinary queen, Laura Easton has whipped up some delicious new recipes, perfect for celebrating Wimbledon!

It’s official, the UK has gone cupcake crazy...

There are loads of variations and unusual combinations to choose from, but we’ve decided to keep things simple with classic flavours perfectly suited to an elegant afternoon tea.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Makes 12

Vanilla Cupcakes

180g unsalted butter (softened)
180g caster sugar
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder (heaped)
60-80mls milk
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat your oven to 180° (160° fan)
• Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases
• Place all cupcake ingredients into a food processor and mix until well combined
• The mixture should be of dropping consistency, so add extra milk if necessary
• Spoon the batter into the paper cases so that each one is about two thirds full
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through
• Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack while you prepare the buttercream

If you don’t have a food processor:

• Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition
• Add the vanilla extract and mix through
• Gently fold in the flour and add the milk - do not over-mix

Vanilla Buttercream

125g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Beat the butter until smooth
• Sift in half of the icing sugar and beat until well combined
• Sift in the remainder of the icing sugar and beat until very light and fluffy
• Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth
• Pipe or spoon onto your finished cupcakes and decorate however you wish

If piping, depending on which nozzle you're using, you might need a double quantity of the buttercream to cover all of the cakes.

Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

Makes 12

Raspberry Cupcakes

180g unsalted butter (softened)
180g caster sugar
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder (heaped)
60-80mls milk
2 large eggs (room temperature)
150g raspberries

Lemon Buttercream

125g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
Finely grated zest of half a lemon
2 tsp lemon juice

Make the cupcakes as in the Vanilla Cupcake recipe above, pushing 3 raspberries per case into the batter.

Prepare the Lemon Buttercream using the Vanilla Buttercream instructions, substituting the lemon zest and juice for the milk and vanilla.

Cupcake Decorating

This is half the fun of making cupcakes (with eating being the other half obviously!), so go crazy and unleash your creativity.  You'll find an abundance of sprinkles, colourful cake cases and cake toppers readily available in supermarkets so there’s absolutely no excuse for a sad looking cupcake. 

We made our own Jubilee-inspired Union Jack Cake Flags for this feature and if you’d like some to jazz up your own cakes, you can download our printable pdf here.

Victoria Sponge

The recipe below is for one big cake, but if you’d like to make some mini ones like we have (see photo), just use a round cutter to cut circles from the cooled sponges. Then cut each circle in half and fill with jam and whipped cream.

225g unsalted butter (softened)
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs (room temperature)
225g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
Strawberry jam
Double or whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar

2 cake tins - 20cm/8in

• Preheat your oven to 180° (160° fan)
• Grease and line the 2 tins with baking paper
• Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition
• Gently fold in the flour taking care not to over-mix
• Divide the mixture as evenly as possible between the 2 tins and smooth over the top
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and cooked through
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack
• Once completely cool, spread a layer of strawberry jam on one of the sponges.
• Top the jam with a layer of freshly whipped cream and sandwich with the second sponge
• To finish, dust the cake with icing sugar

Union Jack Tart

1 pack ready-rolled sweet shortcrust pastry
500g pot of ready-made fresh custard
250g mascarpone
1 tub each of strawberries and blueberries

23x32x3cm / 9x12.5x1in baking tin

Pastry

• Preheat your oven to 180° (160° fan)
• Unroll the pastry sheet
• Gently lay it onto the baking tin and press into the corners and up the sides, leaving any excess hanging over the edges
• Place a sheet of greaseproof paper in the tin and add baking beans/uncooked rice in order to bake the tart blind
• Bake for around 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown
• Remove from the oven and trim any rough edges with a sharp knife
• Allow to cool

Filling

• Beat the mascarpone until smooth
• Add a glug of custard and beat into the mascarpone - this helps the mixture combine without any lumps
• Gradually beat in the remaining custard until smooth

Once the tart has cooled, pour in the filling and decorate with the selection of berries.

Please be mindful that all of these confections are at their very best on the day they are made.