Wonderful Cupcake Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease the cupcake tins. In my experience, it's helpful to place a muffin paper capsule in each tin so the batter doesn't stick to the tin.

Cream the butter with the sugar. Then add the eggs, one at a time, always mixing thoroughly. It is very important that the eggs are at room temperature, otherwise the butter and sugar mixture may stick together.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, vanilla sugar and salt. Then alternately add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the butter mixture. After adding the last of the flour, mix for 1-2 minutes more to bring the dough together well.

Spoon the dough into the tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until test done. I've found that timing is very important: overbaked cupcakes can dry out, while underbaked cupcakes won't hold their shape. Plan to check with a toothpick after the first batch to make sure the batter is well done.

To make the cream: cream the butter with the icing sugar and vanilla flavouring. It is important that this consistency is firm and can be well moulded on top of the cupcake.

Cool the cakes completely before decorating them with the cream. Carefully, but firmly, place the cream on top of the cupcakes.