Super easy skinny Chambord cupcakes

I like to think of these as a cocktail in a cupcake; laced with the blackcurrant taste of Chambord liqueur, these cupcakes are filled with a berry jam centre, which is encased in a light chocolate sponge. If that hasn't enticed you enough, these gorgeous gems are low in fat and sugar, and gluten-free! To add a touch of glamour to the already sophisticated sweets, I topped them with glittery sprinkles.

To make them super easy to make, I've based them on a cake mix variation. I've been doing that a bit too often recently, but it's a short-cut way to experiment with new flavours before I create my original recipe. As I often do, I chose to make these gluten-free but you could easily buy cake mix of your choice or whip up a basic cupcake mix.

Skinny Chambord Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 low-fat plain cake mix (I use an organic gluten-free vanilla mix)
• 2 tablespoons of dutch cocoa
• 2 tablespoons of Chambord liqueur
• 3 tablespoons of melted organic butter
• 160 ml of water
• 2 eggs
• 1 small jar of sugar-free forest-fruits jam

Icing:

• 100 grams of low-fat cream cheese, room temperate
• 3 tablespoons of Chambord liqueur
• 1 tablespoon of Natvia sweetener
• 1 drop of red food colouring

Method:

1. To make the cupcakes, firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
2. Using an electric mixer, add the cake mix, liqueur, butter, water, eggs and sift in the cocoa. Mix on low speed until incorporate and then turn up to medium speed to mix well for 4 minutes.
3. Once mixed, spoon 1/3 of each muffin hole full of cake mix.
4. Add a teaspoon of jam on top of each part-way filled muffin hole.
5. Top up the muffin holes with the remaining cake mix.
6. Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes, at which time they should be springy to touch and cooked through.
7. Leave to cool in their tray for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Take care as the jam may have escaped from the bottom of the cakes and will be very hot.
8. To make the icing, put the cream cheese, liqueur, sweetener and food colouring in a bowl and mix vigorously until well combined.
9. When cakes are completely cool, coat each one with the icing and decorate as you please.

Enjoy!

Approximately 120 calories per cupcake.