Cupcakes….!

CUPCAKES, WHAT COULD BE NICER….!

Indeed, what could be nicer, than a well made, and beautifully iced cupcake. Well, I don’t claim to have been able to master the “beautifully iced” part, but at least I tried. However, the same cannot be said about the cupcake itself. After using my Mother’s tried and tested 4, 4, 2, formation, I added a drop or 2 or 3 of lemon extract, and it was transformed! You can also have a 6, 6, 3, mix. 6oz. flour/sugar/butter to 3 eggs, for a larger quantity of buns.

TO BEGIN

I try to be organised when baking anything. I like to have all the ingredients to hand, instead of making several trips to my baking boxes. Baking boxes, for anyone who is interested, is where I keep my Flours, and other dry ingredients. The other boxes house baking tins, cases, liners, etc. The very first thing I do, after many a disaster with my, affectionately termed, wonky oven, is pre-heat. This mix requires a pre-heated oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F. Line a 12-hole bun or muffin tin with paper cases.

You will need:

4oz/115g Self Raising Flour

4oz/115g softened butter

4oz/115g Caster Sugar

2 lightly beaten eggs

2 – 3 drops Lemon Extract (Not Essence)

1 tablespoon of Milk

Method

Cream together the sugar and butter in a bowl until totally combined. Slowly, add the eggs, and sift the flour in between each addition of beaten egg. Add the milk. At this point, I added the Lemon Extract.

Put the mix into your paper cases. I find using two teaspoons, one to scoop, and one to scrape works best. Place on the middle self of your oven and bake for 20 minutes. Test with a cocktail stick or metal skewer to see if they are cooked. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Lemon flavoured butter-icing

6oz/175g Softened unsalted butter

3 tspns Lemon Extract

10oz/280g icing sugar

Pink Edible Cake Glitter

Beat the butter and lemon extract together, until light and well combined. Sift the icing sugar in, and give the mix a good whisk each time you add the sugar.

After the buns have cooled, ice them, using a piping bag and a small to medium nozzle, or simply spread the icing over each bun with a palette knife. Decorate with whatever decorations you like.

So, there you go. Cupcakes. Easy…!