Primrose Bakery's chocolate cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 170ºC (fan)/190ºC/375ºF/gas mark 5.

Line either a muffin tin (for regular-sized cupcakes) or a mini cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

Melt the chocolate (the easiest way is in a microwave on a medium heat for 1 min stir and then microwave again for a further min, but be very careful not to burn the chocolate!) Leave to cool slightly.

Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric hand beater until pale and smooth. In a separate bowl and with clean beaters beat the egg yolks for several mins. Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar and beat well. Next, add the chocolate to this mixture and beat well.

Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Combine the milk and vanilla in a jug. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate, butter and sugar, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Beat very well after each addition.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold the eggs whites into the main batter using a metal spoon. Do not beat or you will take all the air out of the cake.

Spoon the mixture out equally into the tins depending on the preferred size. You do not need to fill the cases with mixture, about two-thirds full will work best as the cakes will rise considerably in the oven. The batter will be of a fairly liquid consistency so take care when spooning out as it can end up being very messy! You could even use a jug to pour the batter into the cupcake cases if it gets too difficult to spoon.

Place the trays in the oven and bake for between 20-25 mins for the regular size cupcakes or approx 15 mins for the mini cupcakes. Leave in their tins for 10 mins or so before placing on a wire rack to cool.

For the chocolate buttercream icing: melt the chocolate in a bowl or plastic jug in the microwave until smooth and a thick pouring consistency. A general guide would be to heat at 30 secs intervals on medium, stirring in between, to avoid burning the chocolate. Leave to cool slightly.

Beat the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla with an electric hand beater in a bowl until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until thick and creamy. If it looks too runny to use when trying to ice cupcakes or cakes, simply keep beating, this will thicken the icing and improve its consistency. Then ice the cupcakes.