2. WGS
1
WGS
2
Get Involved
The next edition of The Westgate Studio is the
Easter issue! We want your poems and stories,
whether real or imaginary on the theme of new
beginnings!
Send all submissions to either:
ai@westgate.slough.sch.uk
or cd@westgate.slough.sch.uk
The Westgate Studio The Westgate Studio
Happy reading and look out for our writer of the
month’s submission. We deliberated long and
hard before settling Angel by Mahnoor Khan.
Mahnoor wins dinner for two at Nandos and
by getting involved next month, you could win
an Amazon gift card if you are the writer of the
month.
See you then!
Welcome to the second edition of The Westgate Studio. It
has been a busy month with many of you getting into the
spirit of Valentine’s Day. We have read some amazing sub-
missions this month and actually had more submissions than
we have pages in the magazine. If your work hasn’t been
used this month, there is still a strong chance that it will be
used in the next issue. We keep everything that we are given!
We hope you enjoy reading the work you have submitted for
this issue. It seems that a lot of you were inspired to write po-
etry this month and we have some fantastic poems for you
to read; poems about love, heartbreak and hope. These po-
ems explore the essence of what it means to be human and
Jai Chauhan and Laura Bailey’s poems made us wish there
could be more than one star writer of the month. We also
have an interesting article on famous couples and some
short stories for you to enjoy; Aliza Asad’s story on love lost
and found had us laughing out loud. Let us know what you
think by emailing us and we can print your comments next
month.
3. The Westgate Studio
4Angel
And though I never
knew her,
I thought of her as
extremely strong
life brought her endless
pain
yet that thought didn’t
occur once in her brain
she lived in the hope of
soon becoming
stronger
and now here I am, but
She is no longer.
Innocent angel of mine
She now rests with those
of her kind.
Leaving me here alone,
stuck in this distorted
dimension of time.
“She’s in a better place,”
they say from all around
They scream and shout
but I do not hear a sound.
For why should I? When
all they spit out are lies
Where better for angel
of mine to lie, than right
here, by my side?
Mahnoor Khan- year 11
StarWriterofthe
Month
Contents
ARTICLES
• Angel - p.4
• Far Away - p.5
• She - p.5
• Be Mine - p.6
• Snow White Doves - p.6
• Arrange of love poems - p.9-10
• Blossom - p.13
• Gone - p.13
• Trenches - p.14
• The Big Issue - p.8
• Classic Couples - p.11
POEMS
• The Boy - p.7
• Paris - p.15
• Beloved Bran - p.17
SHORT
STORIES
The Westgate Studio
3
4. The Westgate Studio
Far Away
Even though you’re far away,
I am here to say,
Thinking of you every step,
Every tear I wept
The distance of being far apart
Does not stop you being in my heart
I wonder where you are,
Near or far
We are both strong,
Yet it seems so long
I remember the last time
I saw your face
Our wedding bells chime,
Every moment I embrace
The petal that falls
In the spine tingling silence
Makes me call
Endlessly to you
I look at the stars
And feel the breath
That you once breathed
Reassurance is bliss
I’ll be everywhere
To give you one last kiss
Way up there.
Laura Harry- Year 12
She
Her hair fell like silk and
Her eyes twinkle like diamonds.
Her voice,
A choir of angels.
She has lips that orchestrate
Beautiful words that caress my soul.
She looks at me and
I’m trapped
In her spell.
She knows what she can do and
How she does it.
She moves seamlessly and fluently.
Is she playing me like a violin?
Or is this a true feeling that has
Been blessed upon my fragile heart?
Or in the end will I be
Inflicted a harsh pain of
Hateful woe
That will shower down like rain?
Broken remnants from previous experience.
It does not matter.
I watch her move and
She moves with finesse,
An elegant swan.
Her breath is like a scent from heaven.
This woman is unknown.
She is a mystery which
I am eager to solve.
Jai Chauhan- year 9
Be Mine
I don’t know how to tell you,
How much you mean to me.
My life would be complete,
If me and you were to be.
In you I find happiness and delight,
My heart gently flutters when you are in my sight.
The loveliness in you shines so bright,
I wish I could hold you throughtout the night.
Valentine’s Day has come around and I feel the time is right,
To ask you to be my Valentine and make my world so bright.
Jason Kimmins, year 8
5
Snow White Doves
Love is life, you need it to live,
Happiness comes from the people you’re with.
Love makes the world go round,
If love were a song it would be a sweet sound.
Born to live, born to love,
The beautiful symbol of a snow white dove.
Years go by while love gets stronger,
Knowing your love can’t go on much longer.
Your love is ended,
And your heart will never be mended.
Imogen Sloane, year 8
The Westgate Studio
6
5. The Boy Megan Jones- year 7
There he was. A tall, dark and handsome boy who made my heart race whenever he
looked at me and my hair stand on end whenever he breezed by. Life became a little
easier when I knew I would be able to see him almost every day.
The only problem is that he doesn’t seem to notice me. I’m a small nerd who likes
Mathematics and thinks that the periodic table song should be at least in the top ten in
the charts! Whereas he’s a cute and funny boy who doesn’t seem to realise that I exist!
The only time he did notice me was when my locker door jammed and I was strug-
gling to get out my science books in time for class.
And do you know what he did?! He came over to me and helped me
open my busted locker – and that’s not all! He refused to play football
with his friends so he could walk me to class. I felt like the happiest girl
alive!
From then on, the world didn’t matter to me; my crush just walked me to class! And
that leads us to today. Today is Valentine’s Day and he walked up to me for no reason
whatsoever. At first I wondered whether he was going to tell me that my shirt’s on in-
side out or the plaster that held my glasses together was now coming off and I began to
feel hot and flustered, whilst trying desperately to stay cool and calm. Easier said than
done.
Our eyes locked together and I felt like he was the key to my heart and that it was
unlocking especially for him. That’s when it all happened. A cascade of colours explod-
ed inside my body and sent me soaring above the stars. My heart was now breaking a
record for the one hundred metre sprint
and my brain turned into a mush of
mess that only he was able to get into.
How does he do that? Make my body
turn to jelly just by looking at me?
I run to the girl’s toilets and splash
water on my burning face as the bell
rings to show the end of the day. I run
out of the toilets and head for the exit.
I’m safe for today and just have to wait
and see what tomorrow brings! Oh, love
is a wonderful and exhausting thing and
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Beyoncé has sung about ‘putting a ring on it’ whilst
Prince William famously decided not to wear a
wedding ring. This month Grace Ashley delves into
an issue that hasn’t gone away. Marriage. What does it
mean and is it even necessary?
Marriage Matters
Marriage: what’s it ac-
tually about? That’s easy,
it’s about love. When you
agree to marry someone,
you are basically saying ‘I
really, really love you’ so
why do some people think
this is old fashioned when
love is definitely not old
fashioned.
Marriage is about re-
spect. If you don’t agree to
marry someone or if you
say that you don’t believe
in it, you are saying to
them two things. You are
not only saying ‘I don’t
love you’ but you are also
saying ‘I don’t respect
you’. If you don’t respect
someone, then they won’t
respect you and how can a
relationship without love
survive?
Another aspect of
marriage is partnership
and yes you can be with
someone for years and not
be married but marriage
gives you a security that
nothing else can.
Marriage Mayhem
A lot of people believe
that marriage isn’t for
them. Marriage is a big
commitment and it may
not be their style. Some
people think it is out of
date and shouldn’t be
forced on them.
When people get mar-
ried they stop being them-
selves and really shouldn’t
we be one person and
not two? Marriage isn’t
compulsory so why force
people into making choic-
es that they don’t want to.
Relationships are about
freedom and people can’t
be free if you always have
to ask permission from
other people. All that hap-
pens is that your relation-
ship breaks down.
What do I think?
The marriage question
and debate will contin-
ue for a long time but
personally, I think that
marriage IS necessary. I
think this because if you
marry someone, you are
taking on someone else’s
worries and problems as
well as happiness. You are
prepared for anything that
life may throw at you and
you’ll have someone to
help you through things
as well.
Grace Ashley- year 7
The Big Issue
7 8
The Westgate Studio
6. Love?
Can you explain love, nobody can!
Love is a mystery made by man
Strong feelings and emotions
Celebrated by marriage
People sworn together by rings.
Love is contagious
Cannot be contained
Sunset is sweet
Rainbows are sweeter
You are the sweetest
Made by angels!
Gemma Toogood- year 7
Love
Why do we feel such a strong emo-
tion,
complete care and strong devotion?
It seems to bring pain and fear,
along with shame and then tears.
Though at first
it sure feels great,
as if it was our fate.
With a smile,
we first feel love
and then thank almighty God above,
beating ourselves with jealousy.
Distance then grows apart knowing
they are not right at heart.
The cycle that they had begun finally
comes to its end.
Ayo Oguntoye- Year 9The Happening
A dove with wings as bright as the moonlight
Soaring over the mountain top in the skies
In dawn the colours pink, yellow, orange
And beneath the mountains, the watchers lie
They all gaze up and stare into wonder
As all their surrounding is breath-taking
Happening with lightning and thunder
The mixture of two elements blending
There is air and there is water within
Creating a scene of tremendous things
All of this is submerged into a day
And most people call this the happening!
Gemma Hughes- year 9
The Westgate Studio
Love
Hard to breathe,
Feels like floating,
So much love to give,
My heart’s exploding.
Shine so bright,
Brighter than a star,
No one is perfect,
You’re good the way you are!
I love you so much,
That it fills a thousand fields,
I’ll protect you in love,
I’ll provide the shields.
Anonymous, Year 9
The Westgate Studio
Peaceful Love
There is peace in my soul
For such a long awaited time
There is love in my life
A love of melody and rhyme.
Once you took hold of my heart
I knew no other could have reached
As whispered fate took my hand
To levels only you could reach.
With you in my life
We will live eternally
I knew the first day we met
You were meant for me.
Patrick Hayes- year 9
9 10
7. History is plagued with iconic
lovers, from Minnie and Mickey
Mouse to Michelle and John and
Jaqueline Kennedy at the White
House. It seems that love is some-
thing that inherently attaches itself
to our human nature, as though
even the most elite of mankind
will have a profound weakness in
the form of their soul mate. As
Valentine’s Day approaches, many
of Cupid’s classic couples will be
publicized globally and revered for
their sweet, undying love. How-
ever, many of the most typical
twosomes are not all that they are
made out to be!
Disney’s infamous mouse duo
Mickey and Minnie Mouse are
renowned for their inseparabil-
ity. Valentine’s Day ensures that
they are plastered all over cards
and brought to life in giant sized
teddies. However, a comic strip
that ran from the eighth to the
twenty-fourth of October in 1930
saw the pair drown in the shadows
of infidelity.
Mickey Mouse appears to be suspi-
cious of Minnie when she falls for
another mouse, in the fifteen part
comic strip. Minnie Mouse then
plays the piano with the unnamed
‘city mouse’, causing Mickey to
think that she has kissed him!
Walt Disney then shows Mickey
attempting suicide using different
ways as a result of his despair, such
as a shot-gun, jumping into a river
and toxic-gassing his bedroom.
Each time Mickey is interrupted
and finally he is brought to his
senses by a passing squirrel char-
acter, in the last comic strip.
In the 1930s, the typical sense
of humour was very different to
today and Mickey Mouse was very
popular during the 1920s through
until the 1930s, but the characters
were not solely aimed at an audi-
ence of children, which is why the
content of this comic strip is not
included in the censored Disney
version of the twosome that exists
today. It appears that even the
most classical of the couples have a
shady history!
Similarly, American president John
F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline
Kennedy were faced with their
fair share of romantic turmoil. His
power within America meant that
John ‘Jack’ Kennedy regularly had
the eighth floor of Washington’s
Mayflower Hotel booked out
for out-of-hour meetings with the
likes of Angie Dickinson and Kim
Novak. It is suggested that Kenne-
dy used the Secret Service to help
him cover his tracks from his wife,
although it is reported that Jaque-
line said to Florida Senator George
Smathers “Don’t think I’m naive
about what you and Jack are doing
with all those pretty girls.”
Amongst many of the alleged
affairs that Jack pursued was ac-
tress and singer Marilyn Munroe.
However, it was brief and Kennedy
broke both the heart of his wife
and his mistress, after a night at
the Palm Springs Hotel with Mar-
ilyn.
Not long after, he allegedly told
Monroe “You’re not really First
Lady material, anyway, Marilyn.”
The famous performance of ‘Hap-
py Birthday’ that Munroe present-
ed on Kennedy’s birthday sparked
trouble between Jacqueline and
Kennedy and she had enough of
his infidelity, threatening to file for
divorce. This was largely due to the
fact she thought it would jeop-
ardize his chances of the looming
election. Kennedy heartlessly sent
his brother, and Attorney –Gen-
eral, Bobby Kennedy to make it
clear to Marilyn that the affair was
over. It was not long after this that
Marilyn died and a post-mortem
concluded that it was due to a
barbiturate overdose, although this
is highly disputed.
It seems that not even the most
classical of the couples are as per-
fect as they first seem. While Val-
entine’s Day glorifies the pure and
undying love of these couples, the
history behind them can comfort
any singleton on Valentine’s Day!
Imogen Trinder- year 13
11 12
The Westgate Studio
Classic Couples
The Westgate Studio
8. Gone
I am empty from the inside.
I am broken from the inside.
Do you hear me?
There’s nothing left of me now.
I… I feel like I am losing my breath.
One
by
one and
now I can’t breathe.
There’s nothing left of me now.
I am gone.
and
so are you.
This is not funny anymore.
I am gone for…ever and ever.
I am never going to return.
Do you understand?
You thought you knew me.
But did you?
Not that I am gone, you feel pity.
Why? Why?
I am taking you with me.
Buried deep
Where no one can hear us.
Where no one can see us.
We’re going away from this world.
Together.
Iqra Chaudhary- year 9
Blossom
Hello. How are you? I’m blossom. I’m pink,
I’m red; I’m any colour you want me to be.
Sometimes I’m nasty. I’m really nasty. I
break your heart and I don’t care.
I taste like pink candy floss, yummy right?
You can’t resist me! I’m just too damn tempt-
ing. I have a jubilant fragrance; I smell like
fruit: sweet, sweet fruit, though it’s all a mas-
querade, I am secretly an odour. When I’m
with you, you feel ecstatic, euphoric as you
can’t help it and I love it. You can’t control
yourself; this feeling is so unknown it entices
you. You’re the vampire and I’m the blood.
You just can’t stop eating me can you? You
think that I’ve sprinkled chocolate chips into
your world but I’ve really scratched your face
with mud.
My time comes in your life when I fall out
of the blossom tree, sitting right outside your
garden. You meet me and you smile. I’m hi-
larious and you can’t stop laughing whenever
I’m around which is fantastic for me because
you think about me again and again and
again until you start having dreams about me.
You just can’t stop thinking about me every
second of every hour of every day. Can you?
But then something starts to change. You
have a heart attack whenever I’m here, I
know. I can hear it! Your heart beats like a
banjo every occasion I’m there. Slithering
snakes start to appear and they’re all over you
but you like it. You like me. Blossom.
Connections are made and hearts come
together and beat as one. Suddenly, I’m gone.
I fade into the breeze. Let this be a lesson, I
told you to never trust me.
Ruby Arora- year 10
14
The Westgate StudioThe Westgate Studio
Bythetrenches
Iholdmybreath,
waiting,waiting
formydeath
Thepoppiesblow
farandlow
inFlandersfield
Hearthegunshots
andthebombs
isthiswheresoldiers
shouldbelong?
Thepoppiesblow,
twoandfro
inFlandersfield.
AndreBurley-year9
Barbusetmoustachus,lesconditionsdeviedes
soldatsdelapremièreguerremondialeneleurs
permettaientpasdeserasernid’êtrepropres.Dès
lafinde1914,lesarméesfrançaisesetallemandes
combattaientdepuisdestranchéesétaientsans
confort:lapluie,laneigeetlesinfiltrationsd’eau
ontvitefaitdelesremplir.Pours’enprotéger,
ilsconstruisaientdeslitsspéciaux.Beaucoupde
soldatsétaientmaladies,ilsétaientatteintsde
tuberculoseunemaladietrèscontagieusedueà
unmicrobedangereux.Ungrandnombredepoilus
mueraientdanscestranchées.
GiannahSnagg,Year9
Soldiers
9. Paris.The city where love lurks on every grey cob-
bled streets. An aroma of freshly baked croissants invades one's deepest
senses as taste buds tingle for more. The sound of swarming traffic erupts
noisily as the boulangerie's sign creaked as wind blew with all its might.
Ferociously, the eerie creak was replaced with an alarming thud. For the
sign had fallen. Above the sculpted, cobbled streets lay: waiting in anticipa-
tion.
***
As the inky black night crept in, lights flickered. Shadows of trees pa-
raded the streets whilst their silhouettes came to life. Footsteps of lovers
trailed along the sandy path and bells tolled nearby. The cold air tasted
crisp and sharp hairs arose from her arm. Her bleak eyes glared at the
wonder in front of her. It glowed as each second went by; the tall structure
surpassed beyond the wavelength. Sounds of laughter took her by surprise.
The two people were clearly enamoured by each other.
The light breeze swiftly blew the leaves below as the mustard path closed
in. This was the end. She engulfed a deep breath; her rosy cheeks became
deeper in hue. The Eiffel Tower towered down on her. Again the wind blew
as the woman’s brunette locks wrapped around her slender neck.
Footsteps came closer; one step, two steps. Her emerald eyes rose and con-
nected with his. Azure blue eyes flashed brilliantly back at her.
“You.” She whispered not knowing if he had heard her.
“Yes me, care to join me on top of the Eiffel Tower?” The blond-haired
man asked. Every feature on his face was defined. All his pride and dignity
rested with her. Imagine if she had kindly declined his offer. Her eyes twin-
kled as the street lights came on.
“Jean-Pierre , I thought you’d never ask. Laisse aller!” She beamed. The
man held out his hand and she accepted it.
***
It is indeed Paris, the city where love lurks on the grey cobbled streets.
Nothing was the same. The luscious brunette frolicked through the street
as an aroma of freshly baked croissants invades one's deepest senses as
their taste buds tingle for more. The boulangerie's sign was replaced with a
new one as the wind only rocked it. A light breeze blew the red rose away
from the bush that it had escaped from. Above the cobbled streets lay wait-
ing… waiting for more.
Laila Haibe- year 10
The Westgate StudioThe Westgate Studio
1615
10. Beloved Bran
Aliza Asad- year 10
Ow! The thin branch of the old tree scraped against the
raw skin of my hip. I lifted my leg up slowly and pushed my weight
to shift the once stable braches of the tree to the left. I looked into the
open window a metre ahead of me and saw the confused look on his
face. Oh no. What’s he going to think? That I’m some creep trespassing
his home of course. I was tempted to just turn around and go back into
my own bedroom that was unfortunately located within an arm lengths
distance within his room but I had to prove a point for myself. The
corners of his mouth twitched as they formed into a smirk, mocking
my misery as I made my way to his bedroom.
“Aaaaah”, I screamed as I felt a sudden jerk that caused me to slip for
a split second. I immediately grasped the window ledge that was within
my reach and hauled myself back up again. The devilish grin turned
into loud gasps of laughter as he held onto his aching stomach from all the laughter that his
deep, enticing voice was releasing.
You’re probably wondering why I was in this this situation. Trust me, I felt sorry for myself
too. Well, let’s just start from the beginning…
Why are they all staring at me? Have I got spinach in my teeth or something? Gosh! Get it
together Evelyn, of course they’re going to stare. You’re the new student, aka everybody’s next
high school toy. I plastered on a fake smile as I stared into 30 bored, amused or expressionless
faces.
“Everybody welcome our new student Evelyn Montgomery. Now be nice and show her
around a bit!” exclaimed the history teacher who looked somewhere in between his mid-40s
and 50s, with a chubby face wearing thick framed glasses and a checked sweater vest. I walked
straight ahead, piercing my way through the lasers that everybody’s vision held out to me.
Trying to avoid eye contact, I pulled my chair out with a loud screech and sat down.
I was making my notes on the Vietnam War when a finger tapped me on my shoulder and
tingling shoots of warmth ran across my arm, sending the impulse to my brain to look behind
me. No way.
There’s no way. He was just sitting there; his arm leaned against the desk displaying a cool
manner. His red jersey jacket looked clean and fitted to perfection to his defined biceps. The
hair was swept up with mahogany stands of it overlapping his forehead; messy yet effortlessly
sexy. His eyes compelled you like the sight of a captivating sunset in the Himalayas, attracting
every muscle in your own eyes to stare into that olive coloured wonder of beauty. His bottom
lip was slightly more plumped than the top, and his fierce jaw allured me to stare at this beau-
tiful creature for only a couple more seconds. Brandon. My bran flakes. This attractive alpha
male used to be my best friend before I left five years ago to the state of Michigan because of
the ‘perfect’ job opportunity my father got promoted to; the job he had been waiting for his
whole career. But as they say, all good things come to an end and they got divorced prompting
me to choose to move back here with my mother to Ohio, my hometown.
“B-brandon?” I stuttered whilst my mind was still trying to capture the
fact that he was sitting right there in front of me. We grew up together
and I always knew that…I was in love with him. When I left, I was a little
heartbroken twelve year old. I tried to fill that deep black tear in my heart
with bandits that kept slipping off the wound and I guess it never really
got healed. He just stared at me blankly as if he was being overwhelmed
by seeing me. His intense eyes sucked me into a whirlwind of recognis-
able pain and mourning of something. Within a flash of a second, every
trace of emotion was torn away from them, and I was left by reading
nothing from those olive eyes. As soon as his mouth opened, a loud bang
erupted its way into my eardrums. I rotated round and was greeted by the
hot coffee breathe of the history teacher.
“Ms Montgomery, I advise you to listen to me when I’m talking in my
lesson. I know it’s your first day, but that doesn’t give you the permis-
sion to not follow the rules.” He warned. Oh how welcoming you are Mr
Chubbycakes!
The next couple of days consisted of Brandon ignoring me…well he
never made an effort to even talk to me. I know I’m the one that should
make the move seeing as I’m the one who left but I was afraid. I was
afraid of how angry he would be at me, for leaving him when we promised that we would be lab
partners in high school and go to homecoming together and share a dorm at Princeton Uni-
versity. I missed him. That Wednesday afternoon, right after school I hurried home and went
straight up to my bedroom. I remembered I wrote him a letter, that letter was the last thing I
wrote before I left. If I could just find that letter in his bedroom, I would have the satisfaction
that he still cared about our friendship. It was a bleak theory but it was the only thing I had left
to know truly whether he’d moved on. Yes. If I could find that letter that that little twelve year
old wrote crying her eyes out, teardrops spilling onto the paper and the squiggly writing her
shaking hand forced her to write in, I’d know he had kept it all these years.
And there I was, hauling myself up to his window. Recovering from his laughter from finding
my struggle amusing, he opened the window and lifted me in…bridal style. His flexed forearms
were rested on my back and the back of my legs, his sturdy chest was propped up against mine
and his enchanting eyes were gazing down at me with admiration pulsing out of them. Bran
placed me down but I felt weak to my knees so I had to hold onto the oak desk to contain my
balance.
“You want to tell me why you were trying to break into my bedroom?” he said trying to
sound stern but his mouth betraying him as he broke into a lopsided smile that displayed his
prominent dimple on his stubble. Why the change of mood after the past few days? I thought.
“Erm… Well. Uhhh…I was just popping by. Surprise!” I awkwardly did a big ‘voila’ hand
gesture but it failed miserably.
“Look, we need to talk Evie”, he said in a low, gruff voice. He called me Evie, my childhood
nickname, short for Evelyn. Evie and Bran, Bran and Evie. It just always fit. So we sat down
on his bed, our knees grazing against each other as our eyes locked into one another. Looking
into his eyes made electricity burst inside of me; it felt like we were spinning around all over
the space, the force of gravity was forcing us to depart but our eyes were locked together and
the key was thrown away. Nothing could break the solid force attracting us to one another. Yes,
time to talk.
17 18
The Westgate StudioThe Westgate Studio
11. Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
Make something sweet for your sweetie.Valentine’s Day Cupcakes (makes 12)
Ingredients:
150g/5oz/1¼ cups of raspberries
250g/9oz/2¼ cups of plain (all-purpose)flour
2½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking powder)
1 egg
100g/3½ oz./½ cup sugar
80ml/3½ oz./½ cup vegetable oil
150ml/5 fl. oz./ 2/3 cup cream
120ml/4 fl. oz./ ½ cup buttermilk
To Decorate:
150g/5oz/1¼ cups raspberries
1 tbsp. icing (confectioners’)sugar
200ml/7 fl. oz./ 7/8 cup cream
12 small heart-shaped sugared biscuits
Method
For the cupcakes, heat the oven to 180°c (160° fan) 350F, gas mark 4.
Place 12 paper cases in a bun tin.
Mix the raspberries with the flour baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir
the egg, sugar, oil, cream and buttermilk together in a mixing bowl. Quickly stir in
the flour mixture until just combined.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen
and golden and springy to the touch. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and
leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Place them on a wire rack to cool com-
pletely.
To Decorate
Sieve the raspberries into a bowl to make a puree and stir in the icing sugar.
Whisk the cream until thick and stir in the raspberry puree. Place ¼ of the rasp-
berry cream in a small bowl and stir in a few drops of pink food dye. Spoon the
mixture into a piping bag.
