Vanilla Star Cupcakes // Tanya Bakes Recipe

I haven't done a baking post in a while now but I recently made these cupcakes from Tanya Burr's baking book and thought I'd make a post out of it. They were pretty easy to make and all the photography in 'Tanya Bakes' is so gorgeous! The instructions are really easy to follow too and I love that at the top of each recipe Tanya has written a little paragraph talking about the recipe and what they mean to her.
For example for this recipe she wrote: ' These were some of the first cakes I made when I was little, with my mum. We used to call them fairy cakes as this was about 20 years before the cupcake craze began! They are pretty, cute and yummy, too, they will not fail to put a smile on anyone's face.' I think that this is a really nice touch and just makes it a bit more personal. This book is also quite special to me because I went to her Norwich signing for it and got to meet her for the second time and take a selfie with her.
So let's get into it...

INGREDIENTS:

50g unsalted butter, softened

180g caster sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

160g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

160ml milk

For the icing:

500g icing sugar

250g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate (optional):

Chocolate stars (I used magic stars)

Glitter Sprinkles

1. Preheat the oven to 180°/350°F/GM4 and line the cupcake/muffin tray with paper cases.

2. In a bowl , cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Then mix in the egg and vanilla extract.

4. Fold in the flour and baking powder, then slowly add the milk, beating as you go until you have a smooth batter.

5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 mins until golden.

6. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

7. For the icing, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Spoon or pipe onto the cupcakes and decorate with chocolate stars and glitter or whatever you fancy.