Planning birthday parties for our children has proven to be a massive headache for one reason or another over the years. We have twins; a boy and a girl which makes choosing a suitable theme, colours, gifts, cakes, etc. a veritable mine field of tears and tantrums. One tip that I would like to pass on is to provide cup cakes instead of (or as well as, if you prefer) a more ‘traditional’ cutting cake.

This benefited us in a number of ways:

• The children loved getting involved in making them
• You don’t have the hassle of cutting up a cake then rushing to get it into party bags to take home. Cupcakes go into a party bag or box much easier – if they ever last that long!
• Cupcakes can easily be made to match the theme(s) of the party very easily and cheaply, with professional looking results.
• Stands can make impressing displays that rival any large cake.
• We’ve yet to meet a child (or adult) that doesn’t like a cupcake!!

We have experimented with various different recipes but the following one has always worked really well for us, even with the ‘assistance’ of a pair of keen, but less than careful, 4 year olds!

To make a dozen you will need:

For the sponge mix:

100g of unsalted butter (soft)

100g caster sugar

few drops of vanilla essence

2 eggs – beaten

100g self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

Cupcake cases (themed if you like!)

For the topping:

100g icing sugar

1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water

Food colouring to match your theme

Cupcake toppers

- Make sure you turn the oven on and pre-heat to 170c (this is something we always forget to do!)

- Line a 12 bun tin with

- Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

- Beat in the egg a little at a time

- Fold in the four and baking powder with a metal spoon

- Spoon the mixture into cup cake cases. These should ideally be set out beforehand, in a 12 hole bun tray for best results.

- Bake for around 15mins until fully risen and a golden brown colour.

- Leave to cool on a wire rack.

- Beat the icing sugar with the water, a few drops at a time, until you have a fairly thick, but pliable, consistency. Add food colouring until you get the colour you require.

- Spoon onto the cooled cupcakes.

- Put on the cupcake toppers for that professional finish!

We’ve also found that this makes an ideal pastime during rainy days. More time spend cleaning up the kitchen to be fair, but the children love to get involved in cooking.

There is a huge variety of cupcake toppers , cupcake cases and stands to be found as well as matching themes and some very unique ideas!