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Pretty Cupcakes

Mother's Day Cupcakes


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 130g (4 1/2oz) self-raising flour
  • 130g (4 1/2oz) caster sugar
  • 130g (4 1/2oz) butter or margarine
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • Red food colour paste or gel
  • 125g (4 1/2oz) cream cheese
  • 250g (9oz) icing sugar
  • 50g (2oz) unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and place appropriate number of muffin cases in a muffin tray.
  2. Measure out butter and sugar into same bowl and cream together until well mixed and turns lighter in colour.
  3. Take a small scoop of the red food paste, about the size of a pea, and add to the mixture.  Don’t worry about stirring in at this stage as the colour will incorporate as you mix in the eggs and flour.
  4. Measure out flour into a separate bowl and add the baking powder. Gently stir together.
  5. Add 1 egg to the creamed butter and sugar along with a tablespoon of the flour and mix well. Repeat this part of the process 1 egg at a time to give a lighter mix.
  6. Gently fold in the remaining flour, and add a little more red food paste if necessary to achieve the desired depth of colour.
  7. Scoop mixture into cases, about half-full. An ice cream scoop is very handy for doing this.
  8. Place the mixture in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes. Check after 15 minutes to see if cooked. Cakes will be cooked when they are springy and return to shape when lightly pressed on top.
  9. For the cream cheese frosting, soften the butter.
  10. Carefully add icing sugar to avoid clouds of icing dust along with the cream cheese.
  11. Mix until fully incorporated and frosting becomes whiter and a little fluffy. You can do this by hand but a mixer makes it much easier – just keep the mixer on a slow speed.
  12. Before icing, slice a little section off a couple of the cupcakes and reserve for later or create little wells in the tops of each cake using an apple corer. Using a large plain nozzle, pipe swirls of the frosting icing onto the cakes.
  13. Decorate with a few cake crumbs from the tops of the cupcakes to create pretty red sprinkles. You can also add icing pearls, sugar crystals or even a little icing flower if you want.

Notes

  • Don't let that incredible cream cheese frosting go to waste if you find you have lots leftover, check out my guide on freezing cream cheese frosting to ensure it's ready for that next fantastic recipe!
  • Prep Time: 60 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 287
  • Sugar: 31.3 g
  • Sodium: 106 mg
  • Fat: 13.4 g
  • Saturated Fat: 8.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 40.3 g
  • Protein: 3.1 g
  • Cholesterol: 66 mg