Vanilla Cupcakes

Lately I'm finding myself at more and more baby showers and kid's birthday parties. To keep things easy, I've been putting my hand up to do cupcakes and this is my go to vanilla cupcake recipe. I normally spread my icing on with a spatula but for something a little special, I piped the icing and was VERY impressed with my first ever attempt. I did watch a couple of youtube videos for tips beforehand and turns out it's not that difficult - keep your nozzle pointed down vertically the whole time and start at the edge working your way slowly from the outside in.

100g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line a 12-hole patty cake tin with patty cases. Beat the butter, caster sugar, vanilla essence together until light and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the flour and mix. Add the milk gradually and mix. Divide the mixture between the 12 patty cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. To check, you can stick in a skewer and if it comes out clean, they're ready. Allow to cool on a wire rack before icing and decorating with sprinkles.

For the icing:

125g butter, softened
1 ½ cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Gradually add icing sugar mixture and milk, beating constantly until combined.