This morning I spent some quiet time drawing lots of sandcastles and suns — today’s doodle prompt was “Build”, and building sandcastles is always such a fun, peaceful memory for me. There’s something really relaxing about sketching those playful shapes and letting your mind drift back to warm, sandy beach days.
Inspired by those golden memories, I decided to try baking a batch of mini cupcakes with a salty-sweet twist this weekend. I imagined that feeling of leaving the beach with salty lips and sandy toes, and wanted to capture that in a little treat: a soft, buttery cupcake topped with a crunchy sprinkle of salt and a toasted almond “flag” — like a tiny edible sandcastle!
They’re in the oven as I write this (fingers crossed), but the aroma is already filling the kitchen with warm, caramel notes. I drizzled a tiny bit of butter and brown sugar over each one before baking for an extra little golden touch.
What are you up to this weekend? I’ll pop into Instagram stories later to share a few new teaching resources I’ve been working on, plus a little Pond update planned for Monday! Stay tuned. 💛
Salty-Sweet Sandcastle Mini Cupcakes
Soft, buttery cupcakes with a caramel-salty crunch on top — inspired by sandy, sunny memories.Ingredients:
Store in an airtight container. They’re lovely crisp-topped on the day, and soft and sweet the next.
I hope you enjoy baking these little edible sandcastles as much as I did!
- 100g unsalted butter (melted)
- 110g brown sugar (100g for batter, 10g for drizzle)
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 120g plain flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 60ml milk (or buttermilk)
- Pinch of salt
- Slivered almonds (one per cupcake)
- Coarse sea salt (for sprinkling)
- Preheat oven to 170°C (fan). Line a mini cupcake tin with paper liners.
- Melt butter and let cool slightly.
- In a bowl, whisk together 100g brown sugar and melted butter.
- Whisk in egg and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, bicarbonate of soda, pinch of salt.
- Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture, alternating with milk, until smooth.
- Stir remaining 10g brown sugar into a spoonful of leftover melted butter (or melt an extra teaspoon if needed).
- Spoon batter into liners (¾ full).
- Press an almond sliver into each as a “flag.”
- Sprinkle each with a pinch of sea salt.
- Drizzle a tiny drop of the butter-sugar mixture over each cupcake (tiny!).
- Bake 12–14 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool 5 minutes in tin, then transfer to a rack.
Store in an airtight container. They’re lovely crisp-topped on the day, and soft and sweet the next.
I hope you enjoy baking these little edible sandcastles as much as I did!