Pic: Ness Ridley

Star of 2019’s Bake Off  Michael Chakraverty has come up with a gorgeous recipe – and some expert baking tips – for this year’s Alzheimer’s Society’s Cupcake Day fundraiser…

1. Set the oven to 160ºC/150ºC fan/Gas Mark 3. Set out 12 cupcake cases in cupcake trays.
2. Melt together the chocolate and the butter in a medium pan. Separately, mix the instant coffee with the boiling water and then stir into the chocolate mixture until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar. Give it a quick mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.
4. Mix together the wet ingredients, then fold into the dry ingredients.
5. Fill each case 2/3 of the way up. Bake for around 25min, or until firm to the touch and a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean.
6. Cool in the tray for 5min before transferring to a wire rack. 

For the icing:

1. Melt chocolate in a small pan and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter with the icing sugar until pale and creamy (at least 4-5min).
3. Fold the chocolate into the mixture, and use to ice the cooled cupcakes.