Less Is More

We're not, generally speaking, 'less is more' kind of girls. We like sparkles and sequins and feathers and edible glitter and fairy lights and flowery wall paper and shoes so high we can't walk and multi coloured rainbow cake and cheesy movies that make us cry. But sometimes, just sometimes, less can really be more. Take this simple cupcake recipe, for example. It's classic and yummy and unfailingly reliable and definitely on the 'less' rather than the 'more' end of the scale (although obvs if you're feeling decadent and 'more'-ish it can be added to and jazzed up and smothered in glitter so really it's a win-win recipe). Every girl definitely needs a reliable cupcake recipe in her life, and this is ours.

 (Makes 12)

125g butter

125g caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

Teaspoon of vanilla extract

125g self-raising flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases. As Marian Keyes says in one of my fave cookbooks, Saved By Cake, it is super super super important that you choose pretty cases with nice colours and patterns that will make you happy. I think me and Marian could be best friends, I really do. We have totally the same outlook in life. After all, what can't be made alright, or at least a but better, by cake?

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and then add the eggs (always beaten first), a little at a time, beating well after each addition and then add in the vanilla essence

3. Sift the flour into the mixture and gently fold

4. Then scoop into the pretty cases that will make you happy using two spoons (and a rubber spatula so as not to waste any, unless, as I have already mentioned, your sister demands that you  save some for prebaking consumption) and bake for about 20 minutes, when the cakes should be well risen and springy to touch. Test that it’s cooked all the way through by inserting a skewer into the middle; it should come out clean when it's cooked.

Buttercream icing

75g butter

175g icing sugar

Few drops of vanilla essence

1-2 tbsp of milk

1. Mix the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until soft and fluffy

2. Sieve in the icing sugar a little bit at a time and mix

3. Then add the milk and vanilla essence, beating well until smooth.

4.  WHEN THE CAKES ARE COOL spread the icing. I have mentioned my impatience at waiting for cake to cool before and I once again urge you to try and be more patient than I am. I knowww it's hard and I know that in your eagerness to assemble the final product, you might not want to wait for them to be totally cool and I know I never wait long enough and I know that as a result my icing melts and sinks into the sponge, which can only result in several dire consequences (extra mess, slightly heavier cake and a need for more icing to be made. First world problems) so please try and be more patient than me. Please.

You can spread the icing with a knife, or if you want it to look uber professional with a star shaped nozzle, which is a lot of fun and makes fat swirls of impressive looking icing.

Classic Cupcake Heaven: sometimes even we can be swayed by this whole less is more philosophy.

And there you have it. The classic, less is more cupcake of your dreams.

(And then, because we're not really less is more girls at heart you can decorate and variate and colour and sparkle. Enjoy!)

Ros xx