Raspberry Crumble Cupcakes

I recently found this recipe in one of my oldest and much loved baking books, and the idea of mashing together two of my favourite desserts (cake and crumble), was too much to resist. I made them as soon as I had an excuse to bake some cakes (a visit to Pete's work place to show off our baby) and they turned out really well. The cupcakes themselves are raspberry flavoured with a hint of lemon, but what really makes them special/unusual is the crumble style topping with pecans in. You could also substitute the pecans for walnuts if you wanted. The recipe calls for melted butter which makes mixing easier if you don't have a food mixer (I don't), and I just used a microwave to melt the butter quickly, though you could melt it in a small saucepan on a very low heat if you wished.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

170g plain flour

55g caster sugar

50g dark brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 tsp cinnamon

115g butter, melted

1 egg

125ml milk

140g fresh raspberries

grated rind of 1 lemon

For the crumble topping:

30g finely chopped pecans (I used a blender to get them to the right consistency)

55g dark brown sugar

3 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

40g butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F / Gas mark 4

Grease a 12 cup bun tray or use paper liners.

1. Sift flour into a bowl. Add the sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir to blend.

2. Make a well in the center and add the egg, butter, and milk. Mix until just combined.

3. Stir in the raspberries and lemon rind.

4. Transfer to cupcake tray, filling the cups almost to the top.

5. Mix together the dry crumble topping ingredients. Add the melted butter and stir to blend. If the mixture is too dry, add more butter; if it is too liquid, add more flour.

6. Spoon some crumble mix over each bun.

7. Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until cooked through and just browned, before transferring to a cooling rack.