SPCA Cupcake Day – Vanilla Cupcakes

The 26th of August is a very special day in New Zealand – it is the day we bake our hearts out for a fantastic cause known as Cupcake Day and all proceeds from selling cupcakes go to the SPCA, visit http://www.spcacupcakeday.co.nz to see what it’s all about.

Last year a lovely lady asked me to bake a few cupcakes for her to sell at work and she raised an amazing amount of money. This was my contribution…

This is a very simple yet delicious cupcake batter recipe and turns out perfectly every time, so is one of my favourites for those occasions when I have limited time or ingredients on hand.

They are decorated with a combination of butter icing, fondant, spaghetti (for whiskers), chocolate and jelly beans (the dog’s noses).  I had great fun doing these, just sorry I didn’t get onto it in time this year.

Cupcake ingredients:
250 g unsalted butter, softened
330 g caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
450 g self-raising flour
250 ml milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 x 12 hole muffin tins with paper cases.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add half the sifted flour and half the milk.  Stir well to combine.
4. Add the rest of the sifted flour and milk and stir to combine again – you don’t want to over beat the mixture.
5. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of mixture into each case, taking care not to overfill them as the self-raising flour causes them to rise beautifully.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool the cakes in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Buttercream ingredients:
250 g unsalted butter
500g icing sugar (2 cups)
1 – 2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cream
colouring and flavours of your choice

1. Cream the butter until it is very pale in colour and looks light and fluffy.
2. Sift the icing sugar and add to the butter one cup at a time, beating on a low speed so you don’t end up covered in the sugar.
3. Add the vanilla extract along with any colouring or flavour.
4. Add the cream (more or less as required until you have the beautiful fluffy consistency of butter cream icing).
5. Decorate the cupcakes using different nozzles, piping bags, lollies and spaghetti (whiskers).

TIP: Depending on the amount of icing you’re wanting to use on each cupcake, it may be a good idea to double this recipe, dividing it into separate bowls so you can add the different colours/flavours.

They take a while to decorate, but everybody absolutely LOVES them.

Enjoy!

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