Method

Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake holders.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow in colour. Add the rest of the cupcake ingredients, except for the apples, and whisk until smooth.

Grate 1½ of the apples and mix this into the batter. Pour the batter into the cupcake holders.

To make the crumble, mix the flour, sugar and vanilla seeds together. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the rest of the mixture. It is ready once it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Thinly slice the leftover half of the apple into 12 thin wedges. Add a slice of apple onto each cupcake and divide the crumble mixture between the 12 cupcakes.

Bake for 15–20 minutes until golden.

To make the butterscotch sauce, melt the butter and sugar over a very low heat. Stir until most of the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up and add the cream. Allow it to bubble away for 3 minutes and then leave it to cool.

Once the cupcakes are cooked, remove them from the pan and let them cool down on a cooling rack.

Serve the cupcakes with a dollop of crème fraîche and a drizzle of butterscotch sauce on the side.

Tip

Take the cupcakes to a picnic in an airtight container. Place the crème fraîche and butterscotch sauce in separate sealed containers and take them along for guests to add to the cupcakes, as desired.