Valentine's Day Cupcakes :)

So, as it's Valentine's Day, I thought it gave me a good excuse to do some baking :) I decided to make some cupcakes for my flatmates, The recipe I used for the cupcakes is really simple and easy to remember- I got it from an adorable book called Easy Cupcakes that I got for Christmas (they also have an Easy Chocolate one which is also very nice) Here is my take on the recipe...

115 g/4 oz of unsalted butter

115 g/4 oz caster sugar

2 eggs

115 g/4 oz self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Put the paper cases in a muffin tray (about 15 or 16), or double-layer the cases and put them on an ordinary baking tray (otherwise they'll collapse, and nobody wants that)

Mix up the butter (soften it a bit in the microwave first) and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. 

Beat the eggs together, then gradually add them to the mixture. Swap your wooden spoon for a metal one and lightly fold in the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, being careful not to put too much in each. 

Put your tray in the oven for about 15-20, or until 

they're golden.

Once your cupcakes have cooled, you can start on the icing. For some of mine I melted some chocolate (it doesn't need to be the good stuff- I chose Tesco's 83p milk chocolate) and spread it on top. For the rest of them I mixed up some cute pink butter icing. For this I just softened about 100 g of butter then added ample amounts of icing sugar. If you like, add some food colouring, but be careful not to put too much in. The best (and only) way to know if your icing is ready is by tasting, so have a teaspoon at the ready! Finally, just spread it over the remaining cupcakes :)