Vanilla Cupcakes

This is a very easy and tasty cupcake recipe. They are pretty irresistible and oh so light and fluffy, especially when you use an electric beater. Of course Monet thought the raw and the cooked mixture was delicious - it's hard to keep her little finger out of the mixture!

The original mixture asks for double the quantities I have here. I find this is enough mixture to make 18 mini cupcakes but if you were going to make large 'normal-sized' cupcakes, double the ingredients and you should end up with 18 large ones...

I iced mine using a basic butter icing recipe...

*Taken from Fergal Connolly's '500 Cupcakes'*

Ingredients

112g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened

112g (4 oz) caster sugar

112g (4 oz) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Preheat oven to 175C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line muffin/cupcake tins.

Place all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk (I used beaters) until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Remove the tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.