Best Cupcake Recipe Ever

My kids have their sports carnival today and I'm up at 5.30am cooking cupcakes for the tuckshop stall. I'm just whipping up my basic cupcake recipe.

In fact, this cupcake recipe is so easy my children can make them, but with some fancy icing and decorating, they dazzle even the best cooks.

So here it is....

You'll need:
125g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
a dollop of vanilla extract
2 cups of self-raising flour
1/3 cup milk

Then:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Fill a muffin tray with paper muffin cases, this recipe will make between 12 and 15 cupcakes. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat until combined. Stir in half the flour, followed by the milk, followed by the remaining flour. Spoon into the muffin cases. Bake for around 18 minutes until golden.

Once the cupcakes are cool you can mix up icing and add your decorations. My favourite icing recipe is 3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted, with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of milk, mixed together with a little food colouring.

So far, I've decorated these cupcakes with marshmallow flowers (like the ones above), sprinkles, lollies and chocolate shavings. But today, we're going for the sports house colours - red, yellow and green.

Lets hope the green team wins!