Cupcakes are always popular with the kids but young ones will love these animal decorated ones – perfect for afternoon snacks or birthday parties
Ingredients
- 125g butter (at room temperature) or margarine 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter(room temp) or margarine
- 125g caster sugar two thirds cup superfine sugar
- Half tsp lemon zest
- 2 eggs
- 125g self raising flour 1 cup plus 1 tbsp self rising flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- For the buttercream:
- 225g icing sugar sifted superfine sugar, sifted
- 100g soft unsalted butter 1 stick butter at room temperature
- 1 tbsp milk
- ½tsp vanilla essence
- Alternatively you can use ready prepared vanilla and chocolate frosting
- To decorate:
- Teddy Bear
- Chocolate frosting (bought)
- Chocolate buttons
- Mini chocolate Digestive biscuits
- White and red jelly beans
- Black Writing Icing
- Frog
- Green food colouring
- White chocolate buttons (resting on cocktail sticks pushed into the side of the cupcake)
- Green jelly beans
- Green Writing Icing
- White Writing Icing
- Piggy
- Pink food colouring
- Pink marshmallows
- Mini candy coated chocolate beans
- Licorice Allsorts
- Marhsmallow Sheep
- Large white marshmallows
- Mini marshamallows
- Black Writing Icing
- Pussy Cat
- Yellow M&Ms
- Black Writing Icing
- Licorice Allsorts
- Panda
- Chocolate Butttons
- Brown M&M’s
- Mini brown chocolate coated candy
- White Writing Icing
Method
Pre heat the oven to 180C Fan 160C. (US 350F)
Line a muffin tin with 10 paper cases. Put the butter, sugar, lemon zest, flour and baking powder into the bowl and beat in an electric food mixer until smooth.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch.
Remove from the oven and cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whilst the cupcakes are baking you can prepare the icing. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar , the milk and a few drops of vanilla essence.. You can divide the icing into a few bowls and colour with a few drops of food colouring.
Once the cakes are cold swirl some of the icing on top of the cakes and decorate them to look like animals using the sweets, writing icing and mini cookies..
For the Marshmallow sheep simply cut one of the large marshmallows in half to make the ears.
Top tip for making Animal cupcakes
These cakes can be made up to 1 month in advance and frozen in a plastic box. Defrost at room temperature for around 1 hour then ice as above.
