You know that mum who shows up to the school fair with a tray of bakery-level cupcakes and you're like “How? When? Why do you have your life so much more together?” Well, plot twist: you can be that mum and without even breaking a sweat. And this is coming from someone who, for most of my life was resolutely adverse to any sort of baking, as it seemed too much effort and way too much time!
These cupcakes are however , so easy! I’m talking boxed mix if you want to, 30-minutes-of-effort tops.
For the cakes themselves I use Nigella Lawsons cupcake recipe which is foolproof.
125g self raising flour
125g unsalted butter (room temp)
125g caster sugar (sometimes I use golden caster if I am feeling fancy)
2 large eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
a splash of milk
I like to cream the sugar and butter together first but to be honest you don’t need to. You can just chuck all the ingredients in together and mix until smooth.
Then divvy it up between 12 cupcake cases and put in the over for around 15 mins at 170degrees (Fan) hotter if not.
Thats it. literally takes about 5 minutes.
Now it’s all in the icing.
Once you know how to whip it, colour it, and swirl it just right, the entire cupcake looks like it was handcrafted in a Parisian patisserie — when really, you were half-watching Netflix and using a ziplock bag as a piping tip (no shame, I’ve done it).
So. The buttercream. Again people thinks is difficult but it isnt!
For 12 cupcakes I would use
250g unsalted butter (a pack so no measuring needed!)
500g bag of icing sugar.
The only other things you need are a splash of vanilla and of milk.
Whisk your softened butter until smooth and a bit lighter and then add the bag of icings sugar.Now on a low whisk (because otherwise you will be in a dust cloud very quickly) whisk in the sugar. It will look like too much but trust the process. It will seem super thick when mixed in so at the point add the vanilla and a little splash of milk and watch it become smooth and delicious!
So you have your buttercream, now comes the bit that people think is so impressive…when you see how simple, it is will make you laugh!
I always think two colours with some white looks great. To do this divide icing in to three and add your food colours accordingly. Once mixed lay out a piece of cling film and blob three lines of the different icing. Then roll it up in to sausage and twist the ends.
Now grab an icing nozzle - Amazon have a great selection but you can usually get them in the supermarket too. Place this in to a piping bag with the end cut off. Then cut the end off the icing sausage and place it inside the piping bag. Now you are ready to go.
The final step - icing the cupcakes. Do not be intimidated by this. It’s really easy but if you are nervous on your first go try it out first on the worktop. Just squeeze the buttercream out in a circular motion on top of the cupcake.
Bonus tips:
Add a bit of edible glitter or a fancy sprinkle on top — it’s like highlighter for your cupcake.
A single flower or fruit slice = instant elegance.
Use high quality cupcake liners to level-up the look with zero extra work.
Decent quality food colouring is worth the extra.
So there you have it: cupcakes that scream “I tried!”
Now go forth and frost. 💅🧁
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