Holidays, Unemployment and Strawberry Prosecco Cupcakes

On Tuesday evening I left hospital after my last shift and entered temporary unemployment which so far I am thoroughly enjoying. It has only been a day and a half though.

It’s been a busy few months with revising for exams on top of end of year assessments and working on a rota with more holes than Swiss cheese. I did however get to go away with my family and hang out on the beach with my nephews who were mostly adorable. I also got to try skimboarding for the first time which was a lot of fun but largely involved me falling off and getting a face full of water.

Grumpy Eric

Learning to play frisbee

Standard Marshall beach trip

Skimboarding!

 

After the holiday I got back to my last few weeks on cardiology and my last few weeks of core medical training. We made the decision a while back to take a year out of training before I apply for a registrar job so we’ve been looking at various options and I’m very excited to say I have accepted a job in New Zealand! We are hoping to move out there at the end of October for around 7-8 months.

To say thank you to the cardiology ward I made these:

Strawberry and Prosecco Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 175 g butter or margarine
  
• 175 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 175 g self raising flour
• 2 tsp Prosecco extract

Filling

• 2 cups fresh strawberries (diced)
• 1/3 cup (100g) sugar
• 2 tbs cornflour mixed with 2 tsp warm water

For the buttercream

• 400 g icing sugar
• 200 g butter or margarine
  
• 2 tsp Prosecco extract

Decoration

• Fresh strawberries

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/Gas Mark 4, and line a tin with cupcake cases

2. To make the sponge: cream together the butter and caster sugar until fluffy

3. Add the eggs and prosecco extract, and whisk everything together until smooth

4. Add the flour and whisk again

5. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

6. Meanwhile make the filling: dice the strawberries and put them in a small pan over a medium heat for about 4-5 minutes , stirring constantly.
7. Add the sugar and cornflour and stir until thickened. Remove from the heat
8. When the cupcakes are cooked, cut out a hole from the centre of each cake using a sharp knife and fill the hole with the strawberry filling
9. To make the icing: mix the butter and prosecco extract together and add the icing sugar. Mix until smooth
10. Lastly add the icing to the top of the cupcakes and add half a fresh strawberry to the top for decoration.