The

Westgate

Studio

Valentine’s Day Poems

Articles

Short Stories

50p

The Valentine’s Day Edition

Find out who our Star Writer is...

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Get InvolvedThe 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

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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.

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4AngelAnd though I neverknew her,I thought of her asextremely stronglife brought her endless painyet that thought didn’t occur once in her brainshe lived in the hope ofsoon becomingstrongerand now here I am, butShe is no longer.Innocent angel of mineShe now rests with thoseof her kind.Leaving me here alone,stuck in this distorted dimension of time.“She’s in a better place,” they say from all aroundThey scream and shoutbut I do not hear a sound.For why should I? Whenall they spit out are liesWhere better for angel of mine to lie, than righthere, by my side?

Mahnoor Khan- year 11

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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

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Far AwayEven though you’re far away,I am here to say,Thinking of you every step,Every tear I weptThe distance of being far apartDoes not stop you being in my heart

I wonder where you are,Near or farWe are both strong,Yet it seems so long

I remember the last time I saw your faceOur wedding bells chime,Every moment I embrace

The petal that fallsIn the spine tingling silenceMakes me call Endlessly to you

I look at the stars And feel the breathThat you once breathed

Reassurance is blissI’ll be everywhereTo give you one last kissWay up there.

Laura Harry- Year 12

SheHer hair fell like silk andHer eyes twinkle like diamonds.Her voice,A choir of angels.She has lips that orchestrateBeautiful words that caress my soul.She looks at me andI’m trappedIn her spell.She knows what she can do andHow she does it.She moves seamlessly and fluently.Is she playing me like a violin?Or is this a true feeling that hasBeen blessed upon my fragile heart?

Or in the end will I beInflicted a harsh pain ofHateful woe That will shower down like rain?Broken remnants from previous experience.

It does not matter.

I watch her move andShe moves with finesse,An elegant swan.Her breath is like a scent from heaven.

This woman is unknown. She is a mystery whichI am eager to solve.

Jai Chauhan- year 9

Be MineI 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

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Snow White DovesLove 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

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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

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Love?

Can you explain love, nobody can!Love is a mystery made by manStrong feelings and emotionsCelebrated by marriagePeople sworn together by rings.

Love is contagiousCannot be containedSunset is sweetRainbows are sweeterYou are the sweetestMade 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 firstit sure feels great,as if it was our fate.

With a smile, we first feel loveand 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 moonlightSoaring over the mountain top in the skiesIn dawn the colours pink, yellow, orange And beneath the mountains, the watchers lieThey all gaze up and stare into wonderAs all their surrounding is breath-takingHappening with lightning and thunderThe mixture of two elements blendingThere is air and there is water withinCreating a scene of tremendous thingsAll of this is submerged into a dayAnd most people call this the happening!

Gemma Hughes- year 9

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LoveHard 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

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Peaceful LoveThere is peace in my soulFor such a long awaited timeThere is love in my lifeA love of melody and rhyme.

Once you took hold of my heartI knew no other could have reachedAs whispered fate took my handTo levels only you could reach.

With you in my lifeWe will live eternally I knew the first day we metYou were meant for me.

Patrick Hayes- year 9

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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 outfor 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 senthis 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

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Classic Couples

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GoneI 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 andnow 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

BlossomHello. 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

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By the trenchesI hold my breath,waiting, waitingfor my death

The poppies blowfar and lowin Flanders field

Hear the gunshots and the bombsis this where soldiers should belong?

The poppies blow,two and froin Flanders field.

Andre Burley- year 9

Barbus et moustachus, les conditions de vie des soldats de la première guerre mondiale ne leurs permettaient pas de se raser ni d’être propres. Dès la fin de 1914, les armées françaises et allemandes combattaient depuis des tranchées étaient sans confort: la pluie, la neige et les infiltrations d’eau ont vite fait de les remplir. Pour s’en protéger, ils construisaient des lits spéciaux. Beaucoup de soldats étaient maladies, ils étaient atteints de tuberculose une maladie très contagieuse due à un microbe dangereux. Un grand nombre de poilus mueraient dans ces tranchées. Giannah Snagg, Year 9

Soldiers

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

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Beloved BranAliza 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.

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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)flour2½ 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 cream120ml/4 fl. oz./ ½ cup buttermilk

To Decorate:150g/5oz/1¼ cups raspberries

1 tbsp. icing (confectioners’)sugar200ml/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 DecorateSieve 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.