4 Bites: Sweet cupcake icings

If a mountain of cloying buttercream, shocked with garish food colouring, isn’t your piping bag, then top your favourite cupcake recipe (or ours) with one of these sweet ideas.

Vanilla cupcakesMakes 6 large or 12 smaller cupcakes

150g unsalted butter, softened
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or the seeds from ½ vanilla pod)
Zest and juice 1 lemon
200g high grade flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
⅓ - ½ cup milk, warmed

1. Heat oven to 180C.Cream butter with caster sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating fully after each. Add vanilla bean paste and fold in lemon zest and juice.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to butter in stages, folding in gently as you go.
4. Add ⅓ cup of warm milk, more if required, to create a batter with a nice drop consistency.
5. Line large or medium-sized muffin pans with appropriate sized cupcake liners. Spoon in mixture to ¾ fill the liners.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or more (depending on size) until they have risen and a cake skewer comes out clean. Cool before icing with one of our four toppings below.

Citrus coconut cream cheese icing

125g cream cheese
125g mascarpone
1 Tbsp icing sugar
1 lemon or orange, zested, and enough juice to flavour
½ cup fresh coconut, finely grated, or use desiccated

1. To make icing, beat cream cheese, mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth.
2. Add the lemon or orange zest with enough juice to taste and the finely grated, or desiccated, coconut.
3. Spread or pipe on to cupcakes and garnish with more zest.

To favourite, print or share this recipe, go to the cupcake recipe page.

Plum or berry cream cheese icing

200g cream cheese
50g creme fraiche
Dash plum or berry compote to colour and flavour and more to drizzle over
Crushed pistachio nuts, to serve

1. Beat cream cheese with crème fraiche until smooth.
2. Add enough plum or berry compote to taste and colour.
3. Spread or pipe on to cupcakes. Drizzle with a little more compote and top with crushed pistachio nuts to serve.

To favourite, print or share this recipe, go to the cupcake recipe page.

Fresh cream for fairy cakes

1 cup fresh cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp white (or regular) balsamic vinegar
Icing sugar to dust
1 dollop compote or jelly, to serve

1. Cut the top off the cupcakes and cut the tops in half to make wings.
2. Whip cream with vanilla extract. Fold in balsamic vinegar, according to taste.
3. Spoon or pipe cream on to cupcakes, add the wings, and dust with icing sugar. Add a dollop of compote or jelly to serve.

To favourite, print or share this recipe, go to the cupcake recipe page.

Jaffa ganache icing

½ cup cream
100g dark chocolate
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Cocoa or chopped hazelnuts, to dust

1. Heat cream, removing from heat just before it boils. Add dark chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Add the orange zest and juice. Refrigerate to thicken.
2. Use a palette or butter knife to spread on to cupcakes, or a piping bag to make them pretty. Dust with cocoa or sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.

To favourite, print or share this recipe, go to the cupcake recipe page.