We were delighted with the overwhelming number of lip-smacking recipes we received for the BBC Lifestyle Cupcake competition – we had no idea there were so many marvellous budding bakers among you! Our team of bakers and tasters had a tough job cooking, sampling and reviewing your tasty bites, and their shortlisted recipes were then judged by Baking Mad's Eric Lanlard.

"After lots of baking and sampling, I decided to give first prize to Candice Dormehl from Pretoria for her 'Candied Apple Cupcake' recipe! It was the combination of the light and very moist sponge, the fresh poached apple filling, and the spicy and fluffy cinnamon frosting which made this recipe so special. What really impressed me the most was the originality of the mini toffee apple sitting proudly on the top of this cute creation, bringing a lovely crunchy texture to this soft cupcake. A truly winning combination and a easy recipe for all to recreate at home."

Candice - "When I found out I'd won, I was so shocked and amazed as baking is something that I love and comes very naturally to me. I love watching the BBC Lifestyle channel, so to have Eric Lanlard who I'm a huge fan of, crown my recipe the winning cupcake is unbelievable and really is the icing on the cake. Winning this competition has motivated and inspired me to work even harder on my baking skills"

Take a look at the video of Eric making the winning cupcake and download all of the shortlisted recipes below.

10 shortlisted recipes