....taken from the queen of cupcakes herself aka Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson.
They are really simply and great every time.....
100g self raising flour
125g unsalted butter, very, very, soft but not melting
125g caster sugar (golden is best)
2 eggs
1-2 teaspoons of Good vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking powder
few tablespoons of milk
for the icing
approx 200g icing sugar or instant royal icing powder
food colouring, if desired
Preheat oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees C
LIne a 12-bun tray with cases
Put all ingrediants except the milk in the processor, add a tiny pinch of salt and blitz furiously. Then pour in 2 tablespoons of milk and process again until smooth, flowing cake batter. Then, using a spoon and a rubber spatula, divide it into paper cases.
Cook for 15-20 mins and cool on a wire rack.
When properly cool, make the icing.
You can use ordinary glace icing that's to say, just icing sugar and water (follow instructions on icing sugar packet) or you can make thicker, stiffer royal icing, whipped up from a packet with a bit of water - or do the real thing and mix icing sugar with egg white.
Dye as you wish: we run the full gamat of pink ranging from ballet pink through Calpol pink to all out Barbie, depending upon the intensity of our mood and heavy-handedness with the bottle of colouring.
When the icing is still wet, let your child place a cherry/iced flower/sweet etc in the centre of each cake. You can make double the amount of cakes if you prefer but make sure you've got a mini-fairy cake tin and not a mini-muffin cake tin.
Best of luck - much more fun that a flipping packet! (clearly someone who doesn't enjoy the whole concept of cooking with kids......!)
