Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, gas mark 3) and place cupcake cases in a muffin tin.

Place the white rum and 30g sugar into a small saucepan and bring to the boil until the liquid has reduced by half, then set aside to cool. Add the chopped strawberries and leave to soak for about 30 minutes.

Place the butter, flour, remaining sugar and baking powder into a large bowl and using a hand held or freestanding electric mixer , slowly mix together until it resembles breadcrumbs.

In a seperate bowl mix together the egg, milk and vanilla extract then gradually add incorporate with the dry mix, mixing thoroughly.

Drain the strawberries from the rum & sugar mixture, saving the liquid. Place a few pieces of strawberry into the bottom of each cupcake case then spoon batter on top until the case is 2/3 full.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Whilst the cakes are still warm spoon over about 1 teaspoon of the reserved rum & sugar reduction.

To make the buttercream, mix together the butter and icing sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs in texture, then add the milk and remaining rum reduction and mix on a high speed until the frosting is soft and fluffy.

Decorated the cupcakes with buttercream, using either a piping bag or palette knife and finish with a slice of strawberry.