Nigella Lawson Cupcakes

Submitted by Kates Kitchen

"A colleague treated us to these Nigella Lawson cup cakes at her farewell morning tea. I was transported back to my sixth birthday party! They're also perfect for a "grown up's" afternoon tea party too."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 12 cup cakes

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

directions

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.

Reviews

[Flowerfairy]

Great cupcakes! I don't care for butter frosting or royal icing, so I usually frost them with chocolate ganache, cream cheese, mascarpone or whipped cream!

 

[Nors in OZ]

Simple, quick and delicious. Followed two previous reviews and did not add extra fluid to the crust and thinly sliced the apples and did not press out the extra juice from the apples and it turend out good. Also had the oven turned downed to 190C and cooked for 50mins and the sides were perfect. Thank you Kate for posting this receipe

 

[Bellamarie.]

Made these with the kids. Very simple to make, turned out beautifully. I've never made Royal Icing before, always did the butter icing, now I think this will be the only way I make it.

 

[Iluv2cook59]

Awesome recipe!! I followed the recipe to a "t" especially when stating to use self rising flour. The icing was just like I remember my gran making. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

 

[cookingpompom]

This is the cupcake recipe that i have used for about 3 years it always works a treat for me. They are very buttery and rich - not airy like the boxed varieties. Thanks for posting the recipe, all my cook books are packed awaiting our interstate move.