Olympic fun! A naughty snack for those late nights spent in front of the TV for the next week.
Notes
Whilst bleary eyes and sugar highs at 2am for us southern hemisphere folks are not ideal I could not resist getting into the Olympic spirit with coloured cupcakes!
This is my go-to recipe for a basic butter cupcake mix. Dressed up in Olympic glory or down with a simple vanilla icing, it will go the distance and have you scoring cheers for many years to come.
Ingredients – makes 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes
100g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk
Ingredients – icing
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
25g butter, softened
1-2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
food colouring of your choice
Preheat oven to 180C and line your tins with patty papers. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Sift in half the flour and pour in half the milk. Stir gently to combine then repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Beat mixture for 3min until well combine.
Spoon the mixture into each patty paper 2/3 full. Bake for approx 12-15min for mini cupcakes and 15-20min for regular cupcakes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl to remove all lumps. Use your finger tips to rub the butter into the sugar then add the vanilla and slowly add the water a few drops at a time beating vigorously with a metal spoon until icing is of a smooth, spreadable consistency. If the mixture is too runny, sift in a little more icing sugar. Add a few drops of food colouring, continuously beating until of desired colour.
Dollop a small amount of icing in the centre of a cupcake then, using a butter knife, work the icing to the edges of the cupcake in a circular pattern. Leave to stand and set for 30min then store in an airtight container.
LOVE this Al – wish we’d thought of something for Little Joe Woman – I guess we have the next 4 years to come up with something!
There is still next week Gail! Let’s put our LJW thinking caps on today xx