Light and fruity, these dainty and delicious lemon and raspberry cupcakes are the ideal centrepiece for a springtime Afternoon Tea. True connoisseurs of Afternoon Tea, Brown’s Hotel serves its award-winning menu in hotel’s wood panelled Drawing Room. Perfect for baking at home with little ones, recreate the magic of this iconic institution at home with this simple cupcake recipe.
Ingredients
(makes 12 cupcakes)
For the cakes:
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour, sieved
Zest of 2 lemons
12 raspberries
For the icing:
200g whipping cream
200g cream cheese
50g icing sugar, sieved
12 raspberries
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Line a 12-hole muffin cake tray with 12 paper cases.
Cream the butter, sugar, salt and lemon zest together in a large bowl, or in an electric food mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating continuously, then add in the sieved flour until the mixture comes together.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases and insert a raspberry into the middle of each cake. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes—the centre of each cake will be slightly springy to touch when cooked.
Remove the cakes from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool before you ice them.
Whisk together the whipping cream, cream cheese and sieved icing sugar in a bowl to form soft peaks. Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a star nozzle.
Carefully slice off the top of the cakes, pipe the icing over it and decorate with raspberries
Sample more of Brown’s delicious teatime treats, email reservations.browns@roccofortehotels.com or call +44 20 7493 6020.
Few cities have shaped Italy’s table quite like Milan. Arguably best known for its extraordinary fashion and design scene, the city’s culinary story is one less often told - though no less remarkable. It is one best read on a plate, through recipes handed down over centuries.
In a city with a legacy like Florence, it is only natural for inspiration to take root. And alongside the bigger, global brands, small artisans flourish through their innate ability to tailor their ideas to an individual’s taste and dreams.
For more than thirty years, Mariateresa has dedicated her career as a cultural guide to revealing these secrets, unlocking doors that are usually very firmly closed. We meet her in the heart of the city, where Via della Spiga meets Via Senato, at The Carlton, a distinctly Milanese address surrounded by noble palazzi, designer boutiques, and storied architecture. “My work is to reveal these treasures… so that visitors feel privileged and can truly appreciate the uniqueness of what they are experiencing.”
