This week I received a little parcel from Bonne Maman. Not only did I get a few jars of jam to play with, they were lovely enough to include some mini jam jars for my readers! The FIVE raspberry jams that I have to give away are in 30g jars, and they’re so cute I actually want to just frame them. To win, all I ask is that you share this post on Facebook to go in the running*. Unfortunately for my overseas readers, I’ll only be able to post Australia-wide…I think customs would wonder why I was trying to send teensy jam jars out of the country.

I got strawberry jam, so I set about recreating jam doughnuts, like the ones from bakeries of my childhood. The mingling of jam and cinnamon and sugar means that these cupcakes are oozey and warm and crunchy in perfect measures. I’m going to keep working on recipes with jam in them before the members of my household devour the remaining jam!

These cupcakes aren’t as light as doughnuts, but this is because they’re not fried! They’re a little bit denser, because baked is always better!! The other difference is the consistency of the jam filling – the jam centre of doughnuts in my childhood had probably never seen a real strawberry in their existence – it was always thin and super saccharine and slightly too red to be believable. The Bonne Maman jam has actual strawberry chunks in it, so it has texture to it, which I love.

Jam doughnut cupcakes

Makes 12

• 1 ¾ cups flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp bicarb
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk

Sugar coating:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter

Filling:

• ¼ cup Bonne Maman strawberry conserve

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Mix together your flour and sugar. Add in the bicarb, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix to ensure the spices are spread out evenly. Pour in the canola oil and add in your egg. The mixture should be pretty thick by now, so add in the milk to thin it out.

Pop 2 tablespoons of mixture into each cavity of your cupcake tin (or silicone moulds like I used) and bake them for 20-25 minutes.

While the cupcakes bake, toss your sugar and cinnamon together for the sugary cinnamon coating. I put mine on a plate and used a spoon to create a swirly pattern until the sugar and cinnamon had combined.

When the cupcakes come out of the oven, allow them to cool for a few minutes, but remove them from the pan while still warm. Use an apple corer to make a well for your jam by pressing  it three-quarters of the way in and pulling straight out to get a clean hole. Save the plug that you just removed from the cupcake, you’ll need it to top the cupcakes after they’re filled.

Fill each cavity with about a teaspoon of jam, so that the jam is almost flush with the top of the cupcake. Grab the plugs that you removed with a corer and discard the bottom two-thirds. Place the remainder of the plug, which is now more of a hat, over the jam.

Melt your butter in the microwave and grab a pastry brush. Brush two cupcakes at a time with the melted butter, and roll them in the sugary cinnamon coating, working quickly enough that the butter doesn’t set. Do this with the remaining cupcakes and serve immediately.

These cupcakes are good for kids and adults alike, but I happily indulged in a little reminder of my childhood during my grown up persons tea party. Yum!

*competition will end on Sunday 15th September