Strawberry and Vanilla Flower Garden Cupcakes

It was little S’s ‘St day’ last week, not an occasion many people celebrate in the UK but I felt the urge to cook something pretty to mark it. Our garden has been filled with daisies of late, making me have nostalgic thoughts of making daisy chains in my school playing fields at break time. Sadly it’s not warm and sunny yet, but I thought I would recreate the memory in cupcake form!

I’d also found some nut-free (hooray!) freeze-dried strawberries in Waitrose (raspberries and mango also available) and somehow strawberry flavour just fits with flower filled green fields so the decision was made.

These  double dose vanilla cupcakes are speckled with freeze-dried strawberries, imparting all their flavour but no gooeyness! The icing is simply shop-bought roll-out icing (Dr Oetker‘s fits the dairy, nut, egg-free bill) attached with a thin water icing. Since it is more stable than a buttercream topping, these would be perfect picnic goodies.

Strawberry and Vanilla Flower Garden Cupcakes (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 12

• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 150ml oat milk
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsps vanilla
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries pieces

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas mark 5

– Place liners in a cupcake tray

– Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar.

– In a separate bowl, mix together the oat milk, bicarb, lemon, vanilla and oil.

– Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix, until well combines.

– 2/3rds fill the liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden and a knife comes out clean.

– Cool on a wire rack.