Cupcakes are cute

Makes 12 cakes, best eaten on the day they are made.

Ingredients

• 100g *butter or margarine
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g self-raising flour, sifted
• 2 *eggs, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

* The butter / margerine and eggs are best used at room temperature rather than straight out of the fridge, especially if working by hand.
Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Electric fan oven 160°C) or Gas Mark 4 and place 12 paper cases into a muffin tin.
2. Using an electric whisk, food processor or wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the beaten eggs a bit at a time, beating well before adding the next bit.
4. Gently fold in the flour (and baking powder if using) with a metal spoon.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 – 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check to see if the cupcakes are done by inserting a cocktail stick into one of them. If it comes out dry then the cupcakes are ready. If not, then put back in the oven for a few minutes more. Don’t overcook the cupcakes otherwise they will dry out.
6. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Decoration
Make sure the cakes are cool first. For a simple icing topping, add a little water and some food colouring to some icing sugar until you have a smooth paste. Drizzle the icing mixture over the top of the cakes and allow to set before adding further decorations so the colours don’t run. For intense colours buy ready made royal icing in the colour you need. You can buy all sorts of icing, food colourings and sprinkles etc in the supermarket, specialist cake shop or Amazon.
Butter Icing
You can make a simple butter icing by mixing together butter and icing sugar (twice as much icing sugar to butter) and a little food colouring. Whip it up into a fancy top and add sprinkles to decorate.