Just Cupcakes

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Cupcakes

So cupcakes are getting a bit trendy these days. So I thought I’d shamelessly jump on the bandwagon and make some of my own. When it comes to cupcakes it probably goes without saying that you have to forego any concerns about fat or sugar content and just get on with using the best ingredients to get the best results. 

As you can see from the photo, icing is really what makes the cupcake, so I thought I’d go to town, and it was a nice way to pass the time as Mr Rice nursed his monumental hangover.

Recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes
125g unsalted butter (room temperature)
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
25g plain flour
3 tbsps skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Butter cream
150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
300g caster sugar 

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and put 16 bun cases into a muffin or bun tin. Then beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a food mixer until well combined, followed by the sifted flour and beat again until it’s all smooth. Then add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, with the mixer on, until the mixture is soft but not runny.

Get two teaspoons and get a heaped spoonful of the mixture on one, and carefully push it off the spoon and into the bun cases with the other until all the bun cases are equally filled. Make sure they are no more than half full or they will overflow when they cook.

Cook the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes until the tops are golden brown and then let them cool fully on a wire cooling tray before you ice them.

I used good old butter cream to ice my cupcakes. It has a lovely, luxurious, velvety texture and is solid enough to cover any uneven tops on your cupcakes. Flatter tops are also the reason I’ve used 25g plain flour, so they don’t rise up too high.

To make the butter cream, just beat together the butter and the icing sugar until nice and smooth. Then you can smooth it or pipe it onto the cupcakes however you like, and of course you can add a little colour and other accoutrements too to give them the perfect finish!

I also discovered that these cupcakes were a good cure for Mr Rice’s hangover. 

PS
Special thanks to Mr Lawrence for telling me to get on with blogging – I’ll make you some cupcakes v soon!

© Katheryn Rice 2008