Nigella Lawson Cupcakes

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 125 g soft butter
• 125 g caster sugar
• 125 g self raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Recipe

• 1 nigella offers a very important tip to take everything you need out of the fridge in time to get to room temperature. this will give a lightness to the cupcakes later - and preheat the oven to 400 degrees f.
• 2 for those on a schedule, put all of the ingredients for the cupcakes except for the milk into a food processor and blitz until smooth. pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.
• 3 or if you're a bit more old fashioned using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour. then add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour, adding the milk to get the dropping consistency as before.
• 4 divide the mixture between a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers, and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. they should have risen and be golden on top. let them cool a little in their tins on a rack, and then take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack.
• 5 ice with royal icing.
• 6 royal icing: *2 large egg whites (or substitute powdered egg whites, 3 cups confectioners' sugar(known to australians as icing sugar. 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
• 7 combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. whisk in the lemon juice, this will thin out the icing. beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes.
• 8 must use self rising flour. substituting all purpose will result in cakes that do not rise, as no other levening agents are used in this recipe.