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CUPCAKES

CUPCAKES

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Makes: 12 cupcakes

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  • Nigella Recipe
  • Vegetarian

At about the time I started getting into top cupcake mode, ostensibly for children, I noticed that the people who really seemed to get excited by them were the children's parents.

Instant Royal Icing can be tricky to find in the US, in which case you can make your own Royal Icing by mixing a 1lb box of confectioners' sugar with 3 tablespoons of meringue powder. Add 6 tablespoons of warm water and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the icing has thickened and forms soft peaks.

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Ingredients

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  • 125 grams self-raising flour
  • 125 grams caster sugar
  • 125 grams soft unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 packet instant royal icing
  • food colouring (for preference colour pastes)
  • cake decorations (wafer roses, sugar flowers, sprinkles, or your favourite sweets/candies)
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Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF and line the tin with the muffin cases.
  2. It couldn't be simpler to make cup cakes: just put all the ingredients except for the milk in the processor and then blitz till smooth.
  3. Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. Or using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour.
  4. Then add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour, adding the milk to get the dropping consistency as before.
  5. I know it looks as if you'll never make this scant mixture fit 12 bun cases, but you will. I promise you this mixture is exactly right to make the 12 cup cakes, so just spoon and scrape the stuff in, trying to fill each case equally, judging by eye only of course.
  6. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cup cakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack.
  7. Once they're cool, make up a big, uncoloured batch of royal icing, and then remove a few spoonfuls at a time to small bowls.
  8. Using a bamboo skewer, add small dots of colours from the paste-tubs, stirring with a teaspoon and then adding more colouring, very slowly, very cautiously (pastel works best here, whatever your everyday aesthetic) until you get the colour you want.
  9. Use teaspoons to coat the cupcakes with icing and leave each a moment to dry only slightly, on the surface, before sticking on a rose, daisy or whole stash of decorations.

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  • This recipe really makes the best cupcakes ever. A friend's mum who has been baking for years tried one and asked me for the recipe!

    Posted by izbywoo on 19th Jun 2011 at 14.08

  • Hi Nigella - this is the first time I have visited your website - even though I have been an ardent fan for years (your love of culinary decadence won me over!) Your passion for creating AMAZING food inspires me... can't wait to try this recipe :)

    Posted by JLB on 8th Nov 2011 at 23.54

  • I made this today for my daughter's pajama party and was so pleased with the result. It was indeed the yummiest cupcake I had tried. I made a few adjustments by using vanilla buttercream frosting. Tasted so perfect together as the cake was light and fluffy and the frosting was so melt-in -the mouth buttery. Before I knew it, I have gobbled three cupcakes in less than 10 minutes. Sinful but worth it! Thanks Nigella.

    Posted by John's cailin on 15th Feb 2012 at 17.38

  • Ive been baking these for quite sometime now, they make for very delicious treats, especially for hungry sweet toothed housemates :)

    Posted by Andriana on 19th Mar 2012 at 3.58

  • Perfect cupcakes!!

    Posted by ShaizaM on 26th Mar 2012 at 11.48

  • So... My best friend had her nineteenth birthday on a pink limo, we were ten girls dressed as disney princesses, it was a lot of fun! I decided to make her a surprise, so I took this recipe and added lots of food colouring: I made rainbow cupcakes! They were divine! It requires a lot of patience but it is totally worth it! Once the batter is ready, divide it in six equal parts and add one colour in each bowl: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple! Add a layer of each colour in the liners and bake normally! The result is beautiful!

    Posted by ninahofmeister on 13th May 2012 at 21.48

  • I've just making cupcakes having been a muffin baker for many years and I'm really enjoying making them pretty. Not being very clever with my hands, I've found some great ready made cupcake decorations at Funky Muffin, their assorted wafer butterflies look amazing perched ontop of a buttercream swirl: http://www.funkymuffin.co.uk/Decorations/Edible-Decorations/c-1-293-225/

    Posted by BakingBiff on 14th May 2012 at 21.14

  • Nom nom, i just made a batch of these using 60g stevia powder instead of sugar. OMG Nigella they taste amazing. Thanks for sharing.

    Posted by Lucinda27 on 22nd Nov 2012 at 11.40

  • Your cupcakes are the best i have ever made. They are nice and fluffy. I never got to icing them because they were all eaten.

    Posted by emimag on 24th Dec 2012 at 20.24