C is for Cupcakes

With the weather overcast and our spirits (and energy levels) needing a lift after a busy weekend, I decided we should have a tea party.  Bear and bee could help me make pink cupcakes – everyone’s favourite.  And to make it a little bit more special we crafted some placemats out of pink checked paper napkins, stickers and laminating sheets.  I got the idea for this craft from the No time for flashcards website which is a great source of activities, games, crafts etc. to do at home with your children.

For the cupcakes, we used this recipe:

Yoghurt Cupcakes

3 cups self-raising flour, sifted

½ cup caster sugar

1 cup strawberry yoghurt

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with paper cases.

Place flour and sugar into a large bowl and mix well. 

Bee and Bear preparing the wet and dry ingredients.

Mix yoghurt, oil and eggs in a small bowl or jug.

Bee and Bear practising their egg cracking skills.

Bee mixing the yoghurt and eggs.  Bear got impatient and added the oil to her flour mix.

  Add yoghurt mix to flour mix and stir well to combine.

Bee mixing the batter really well.

Spoon mixture evenly among cases.

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, until cakes are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly in the centres.

Cool cakes in trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate with pink icing.

Bee and Bear making the pink glace icing.

The fun part - icing the cupcakes

And decorating the cupcakes with fairy sprinkles!

To make icing, combine 1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar or icing mixture with 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1-2 tablespoon boiling water. Stir until smooth and mix in a few drops of pink food colouring.

This recipe is enough to make 24 cupcakes, so I usually halve the icing recipe, ice 12 of the cakes and freeze the other 12 for later.

You could use other flavours of yoghurt and team them with different coloured icings, perhaps blueberry yoghurt and purple icing, banana yoghurt and yellow icing or fruit salad yoghurt and orange icing.

Enjoying our tea party and the cupcakes

Yummy strawberry yoghurt cupcakes with pink glace icing

What's your favourite recipe for cooking with yoghurt?