It’s that time of year again and half term is nearly upon us. As a mum, I know how tricky it can be keeping children busy during the school holidays. What with clubs and camps, play dates and outings – it can be a whirlwind of activities, but I always like to make some time to do a little something all together at home too.
With Halloween just around the corner what better way to spend a couple of hours than baking with children, making a batch of seasonal Halloween cupcakes? Ready-made sugar decorations are widely available in most supermarkets and the kids will have a great time adding their own decorative elements and then of course eating them!
You don’t need any special equipment – it is the process and everyone enjoying the end result that makes it great.
In today’s blog post I will be sharing my easy kids’ cupcake recipe with you. This goes perfectly with the buttercream recipe from my previous blog post too, which can be coloured to create a Halloween themed cupcake. Read on for some tips on that later. If Halloween isn’t up your street, you can of course decorate them however you like.
Flower cupcakes: shop bought wafer paper daisies are a quick and inexpensive way to add decor to your frosted cupcakes.
Cupcakes are a great introduction to baking and decorating for children, as the kids can get as creative as they want to on their own little masterpiece. Just remember that this activity does need adult supervision throughout.
Vanilla Cupcakes (Makes approx 20)
Ingredients:
300g Margarine
300g Caster Sugar
400g Self Raising Flour, sieved
1 tsp Baking Powder
5 Medium Eggs
5 tbsps Milk
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
Cupcake tins
Cupcake liners
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 150oC and place the cupcake liners in the cupcake tin cavities. Your little one may like to lay out the liners themselves.
- Beat the margarine in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer, for approximately 3 mins. (High speed)
- Add the sugar to the bowl and beat for a further 5 mins on high speed until the mixture has lightened in colour and is fluffy.
- Add the baking powder to the flour and stir to incorporate evenly. Add ⅓ of the flour mix to the margarine and sugar and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down any flour that has gathered on the side of the bowl. Remember to supervise your children at each step of the process, it will still probably get messy but it ensures little fingers don’t get hurt.
- Add the milk and vanilla to the eggs and beat lightly. Add ½ of the egg mix to the cake batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mix to the cake batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down any flour that has gathered on the side of the bowl.
- Add the remaining egg mix to the cake batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
- Add the remaining flour to the cake batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down any flour that has gathered on the side of the bowl.
- Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full with the cake batter. My children like to do this step themselves and use a tea spoon to spoon the batter into the liners.
- Bake for 30-35 mins until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Make sure the adult is supervising and children aren’t allowed near the oven!
- Once baked remove from the tins as soon as you can, taking care not to burn yourself, and place on a cooling rack. Again, no children allowed for this step!
- Cupcakes can be iced once completely cooled.
Remember you can use my buttercream recipe for the icing!
Halloween cupcakes: using moulds if you have access to them is a quick and easy way to create your own decorations for cupcakes
Top tip for Halloween cupcakes: when making black coloured buttercream, use a gel paste food colouring and add to chocolate buttercream rather than a light coloured buttercream.
Why not get the children involved in the whole cake baking experience, from designing a cupcake on paper first, to shopping for ingredients and selecting the cupcake liners and decorations?
Stuck for ideas for toppings and decorations or not keen on a Halloween theme? Take a look at the selection below.
Oreo cookies for chocolate cupcakes with Oreo buttercream, sugar carrots for carrot cupcakes, dried banana slices for banana cupcakes, after eight chocolates for chocolate mint cupcakes and strawberry pieces for vanilla and strawberry cupcakes. All toppings/decoration are readily available from your local supermarket.
I would love to see what you create with your little ones, so feel free to post your creations on my Facebook page.
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