Easter Cupcakes

Yesterday was a very busy day as the weather was so nice and I wanted to make the most of it! So I ended up going to two beaches and in between other little jobs likes cleaning the rabbit and getting some things from the shops. As a result of that I was quite tired today and fancied just having a steady day, but also the weather is the complete opposite form yesterday, rainy and windy but with the exception of a couple of quick dashes for dog walks I spent today doing coursework, relaxing and then baking!

I made two easter treats today, the first ones I made were chocolate easter nests (which I will put up in a separate post) and then these cupcakes! I am very pleased with the end result, although it wasn't quite as straight forward as I hoped, but ended up alright in the end!

I made sponge cakes with butter cream piping on top, plain and simple but a nice treat which look very fluffy and easter like! The cupcake cases are by The Great British Bake Off and I got them from Lakeland last year I think and I think they are lovely for easter and the colours are very spring like and bright. The other thing I like about them is the petal like top but the only thing I find difficult is that you have to be careful not to over fill them with batter as they spill over when they are rising. Whereas if you put a little bit less in by the time it rises the top is hardened and can stand on its own.  

So first of all I like to lay out of my ingredients to save myself grabbing it whilst I've got flour all over my hands andI used a recipe that I have always used right back to when me and my Mum used to make these when I was little. Its in a very well worn good housekeeping recipe book and it was the fairy cake recipe I used;

4oz self raising flour

4oz  caster sugar

4oz softened butter

2 eggs 

After creaming together the butter and sugar then add your flour and eggs a little at a time, this is one of my favourite bits because after an aching arm from creaming the butter and sugar its an easy ride from here onwards! 

Using these measurements gives you about 9 cakes as I use the muffin cases so a lot of the time I will double the ingredients so that I get enough to last a while. I would also recommend making a lot of buttercream if you want to have a large swirl on top as I didn't have enough for all of mine but the ones I did you I was quite pleased with. The piping was the bit I look forward to most of the whole bake because a couple of years ago I could never pipe and whenever I tried it would always just look messy and like a bit of an accident had happened. After a lot of practice and finding the right nozzle and bags I think I'm finally improving!