Vanilla Cupcakes recipe

Vanilla Cupcakes

Sink through sweet creamy icing into soft sponge – super easy to make and endless different ways to decorate!

Picture (Device Independent Bitmap)

Makes 12

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15-18 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

125g (5oz) plain flour

250g (9oz) Carnation Condensed Milk

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

85g (3oz) margarine or butter

1½ tsp baking powder

Frosting:

200g (7oz) icing sugar

55g (2oz) margarine or butter, softened

few drops vanilla extract

1-2tbsp Carnation Condensed Milk

sugar sprinkles or cake decorations, to decorate

You will also need:

12 hole muffin tin and muffin cases

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas Mark 4.

2. Place the flour, condensed milk, egg, vanilla extract, margarine and baking powder in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.

3. Spoon into the muffin cases and bake for approximately 15-18 minutes until springy to the touch and golden brown. Cool slightly then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

4. Beat the icing sugar, butter and vanilla with enough condensed milk to bring the mixture to a soft consistency. Spread or pipe onto the cakes. Decorate as desired.

Tips

· There are endless ways to decorate your cakes – find natural colourings, shimmery edible glitter and sprinkles in all good supermarkets and specialist cake shops.

· For a really special occasion; decorate with sugared rose petals by simply dipping fresh rose petals in egg white, dusting with sugar and leaving to dry out overnight.

· For a chocolate frosting – beat 3tbsp cocoa powder into the icing listed above.

· See our little lemon fairy cakes for lemon water icing or try orange and lemon zest and juice.

· If you want to make smaller cakes – place fairy cake cases into bun tins – this mixture should make 15-18 fairy cakes. Bake for 10-15 minutes.