Birthday party cupcakes

(these cupcakes were the one's we made for my aunt's 70th birthday in April of this year)

I secretly love cupcakes. The yummiest I have ever tasted were from a little bakery in Brisbane. I tasted them only once at a party, years ago, but I have never forgotten their soft texture and sweet vanilla flavour.

This is the best that I have come up with so far. It is possibly a Donna Hay recipe, I'm not sure. I have cooked these cupcakes for every one of my children's birthday parties over the last six years.

The recipe states that it makes 24 cupcakes. That's true if you are making these for a mother's morning tea or grown-up event. If I am making them for a children's party, I get almost double that, I always reduce the size of the cupcakes, as everyone one knows: the kids just eat the icing. I put the remaining 20 odd cupcakes in the freezer, ready treats for the kids over the weeks following the party.

Cupcakes

makes approximately 24

• 375 grams butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

butter icing

• 50 grams butter (softened)
• 2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a little boiling water
• food colouring of your choice

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Prepare a 12 hole patty cake tin with papers. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, two at a time, beating well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until well combined. Fill the patty papers 3/4 full and bake for 35 minutes.

To make the butter icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Work in the softened butter with a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla and boiling water. Beat until smooth. Carefully add food colouring to get the colour required. Spread onto cooled cupcakes. It will take approximately 30 minutes for the icing to set.

Fairy Cupcakes

To make fairy cupcakes: add 1/4 cup sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) to the cupcake mixture.