Garden cupcakes with chilled raspberry punch

Method

1. To make the raspberry punch, bring the sugar and 1.2 litres/2 pints water to the boil in a large saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the lemongrass and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Add the verbena, if using, and infuse for another 2 minutes. Pour over the raspberry purée and whisk to combine. Add the perilla, cover with cling film and leave to infuse overnight in the fridge. Pass through a sieve the next day, squeezing hard to extract all the liquid. Chill the punch over ice until ready to serve.

2. To make the brown butter cakes, heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until the butter is browned, stirring the bottom of the pan regularly. Once the butter is a nice deep golden colour, pour into a bowl, including the sediment, and leave to cool to room temperature.

3. Sieve the icing sugar, flour and baking powder into the bowl of a kitchen mixer, then mix in the ground almonds. Gradually whisk the butter into the dry ingredients. Gradually whisk in the egg whites. Transfer to the fridge and chill for 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 210C/190C Fan/Gas 7. Line the bottom of an six-hole muffin tin with pieces of greaseproof paper and grease lightly with butter.

5. Fill the holes one-quarter full, then push 3 raspberries into the centre of each cake (the cakes will rise and the raspberries will be pushed outwards, so stick them in the centre for that reason). Pipe more cake mixture on top until they are three-quarters full. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool upside down on a wire rack (this will flatten the top slightly, which will make the piping easier).

6. To make the orange blossom frosting, carefully and lightly whisk all of the ingredients until combined, folding rather than beating (mascarpone and yoghurt become runny if over-whipped). The mixture should remain firm. Transfer to a piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle, if you have one. Leave to chill in the fridge.

7. To assemble, dust the cakes, wider, flat-sides up, with icing sugar. Pipe the frosting generously on top. Squeeze the bag a bit firmer than you think you would need to as it is actually easier to pipe if it comes out a bit quicker. Place herbs and flowers on top of each cake, creating height and volume. Fill tumblers with ice and pour in the raspberry punch. Serve the cakes and punch.