Valentine's Day Cupcakes

When Sales Manager Mat arrived this morning with four boxes of handmade cupcakes, we couldn't resist sharing the pictures (and the recipe!)

Choose from chocolate 'mud' cupcakes, or vanilla and cherry cupcakes, or make both! We think they make an excellent Valentine's Day gift to impress your loved one...

Ingredients:
(makes approximately 24 cupcakes)

200g Softened butter
200g Self raising flour, sieved
200g Caster sugar
4 eggs

For vanilla and cherry cupcakes:
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
50g chopped Glace cherries

For chocolate 'mud' cupcakes:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Equipment:

You need cupcake cases – they are a little bigger than fairy cake cases

Method:

• Preheat your oven to Gas 5 180C
• Mix sugar and butter together by hand or with a mixer until light and fluffy.
• Beat the eggs and add half to the sugar and butter. Add half the flour and mix
• Add the rest of the eggs and the rest of flour and mix until all the ingredients have combined.
• For cherry and vanilla cupcakes: Add the vanilla essence and then around 50 grams of chopped glace cherrys and mix.
• For chocolate 'mud' cupcakes: Add 2 the cocoa powder. You can also replace the cherries with chocolate drops, raisins etc.)
• Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and place in the centre of the oven. Cook for 10- 15 minutes or until the cake have risen and are springy to the touch.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
  

For the Butter Icing (enough for 12 cakes)
240g Icing sugar (sieved)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla essence (you can use different flavourings)
2 tablespoons Milk 125g Softened butter

You will need a whisk or a mixer to make the icing properly.
Method:

• Roughly stir the icing sugar and the softened butter together before using an electric mixer. If you don’t do this, you will find yourself covered in a cloud of icing dust the moment you switch your mixer on!
• Once the mixture starts to come together, add the milk and the flavouring and whisk until smooth.
• For chocolate icing add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. You can also add colourings. The best thing to do is make 3 or 4 amounts of butter icing so you can use different colours and flavours for each one.

Decorating the cupcakes:

Before decorating make all your butter icing and place in piping bags. (Mat used disposable bags that you can buy from kitchen shops or online at Lakeland.)

You can then use anything you like to decorate your cupcakes with. Try sweets, silver balls, chocolate drops, cherries or sprinkles. Go crazy!