It’s been a while, largely as a result of the fact that I’m back in work after maternity leave (*sob*) and cooking turned into a whatever-can-be-cobbled-together-and-eaten-as-quickly-as possible in the evening. I’m getting a little more into the routine now, but my experiments are still largely confined to the weekends still.

June is a five week month for payroll, and the emergency chocolate digestives have all been scoffed. Time to raid the presses and see what can be cobbled together without a trip to the shop!

There’s always plain flour, some butter and a couple of eggs knocking around. Some cooking chocolate (of the 72% cocoa variety, not wonderbar) usually lives on a high shelf unless something has gone pear-shaped during the month and it got scoffed.

A quick flick through How To Be A Domestic Goddess later, I was rummaging in the back of the fridge for the almost full jar of cherry jam that was lingering there since the last time I cooked duck (not madness, honestly. Quite delicious, in fact). Chocolate cherry cupcakes it is, albeit it minus the ganache as I’ve no cream at the moment.

Melt chocolate and butter, and whisk together. I love using the microwave for this.

Stir in caster sugar and jam.

Make sure the are no jammy clumps, then add vanilla. In go two beaten eggs. Fold in flour and salt, and baking powder in my case as I don’t usually keep self raising flour around.

Into cupcake cases, of which I am also running a little low, and into the oven for 25 minutes, which does seem like an age. Cross fingers that it’s not a typo.

These babies need ten minutes in the tin after they come out of the oven, then left to go cold on a rack. We didn’t quite manage. One test cupcake, for science.

Slightly crispy, sugary top, moist and fluffy center. Yum.

If you didn’t want to fang about with ganache to top, I think some quite stiffly whipped cream, with a little vanilla and spiked with kirsch would be fab, especially with a sprinkle of grated chocolate.