Fairy Cakes (turned Spiderman) from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

If you don't already know I have two nephews who are typical boy boys. Super hero's and guns and lego and cars. You name it and they love all that sort of stuff! The youngest turns 5 next week but had his birthday party on Saturday and if you follow me on instagram you would have already seen that the request this year was Spiderman cupcakes. Last year it was teenage mutant ninja turtles. Having already done it last year I thought I was completely prepared and knew exactly what I was doing and I wouldn't be under pressure at all. WRONG! I would make absolutely no money if I did this professionally and not just for family love. They took me 5 hours. By the end of them I didn't want to see another spiderweb on a red or blue cupcake for a very long time. It was a relief to deliver them to Wizzy World at 3:30pm and know that they will be demolished by tiny mouths any moment.

The recipe I used for the cupcakes is Fairy cakes from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess (I doubles it in the photo above) and its super easy if you don't have a free-standing mixer and are sick of wiping the walls of butter and sugar from using a hand held mixer. You put all the ingredients in a food processor and wizz until they are combined. Add some milk to loosen the batter up a little and there you have it! Cupcakes that aren't only easy but taste awesome too.

I used the Buttercream icing recipe from Donna Hay Modern Classics 2 because Nigella uses packet royal icing to ice her's and I had strict instructions that these needed to look like spiderman.

I added cocoa to both the cake batter and buttercream to make a chocolate version. The vanilla are still best though :)

After they were cooled I iced the cupcakes, making them as round and even on top as possible with the buttercream then placed them in the freezer for 5 minute to make the icing set hard.

I then used Ready to Roll icing called Fondarific Buttercream Fondant I got from Cake Decorating Central. This is one of the easiest ready to roll icing I've used so if you're a first timer I high recommend this brand of icing. Use a little cornflour to stop it sticking to your bench and rolling pin then roll it out about 2mm thick. Using a round cutter about 7.5cm in diameter (or another size that fits the top of your cupcake depending on how big you made them) cut out circles then place them over the cupcakes and using your finger tips gentle fold them around the edges. I used black colour to paint on the webs and then white ready to roll icing cut out for the eyes.

**This is where I would cue a video if i was more organised and tech-savvy**

I'm sorry if that completely confused you. This is the clip I used for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cupcakes I made last year which might give you a better idea of how to roll and place the icing on the cupcakes.

These cupcakes are soooo good without the coloured icing. I personally peel the icing off when I get cake or cupcakes with the Ready to Roll stuff on there and just eat the buttercream and cake underneath. So if you want to give this a go without the spiderman look I've listed the recipes I used below.

Have a go and let me know what you think!

Fairy Cakes from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess.

makes 12 fairy cakes

125g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs

125g self raising flour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp milk

1x Buttercream icing (recipe below)

- Place all ingredients into a food processor except the milk and WIZZ it all together until everythign is combined really well.

- With the motor still running add the milk and then pulse until you get a smooth batter. 

- Divide the batter between 12 lined cupcake moulds. It looks like it wont make 12 but trust me it does. Each patty case only uses roughly a heaped tablespoon.

- Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden on top and a skewer comes out clean from the middle.

- Allow to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes then take the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

- Ice cupcakes with Buttercream when cooled.

Note: If you wanted to make a chocolate version add 2 tbsp of sifted cocoa powder in with all the ingredients and an extra tbsp of milk.

Buttercream Icing from Donna Hay Classics 2.

250g unsalted butter
2 cups of icing mixture, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

- Whip butter and vanilla until pale and creamy using a hand held mixer or if you have guns beat until pale by hand.

- Add the icing mixture and whip until well combined and still light and creamy.

- Ice your cake or fairy cakes then refrigerate to set.

Note: If you wanted to make a chocolate version add 1 heaped tablespoon of sifted cocoa to the icing mixture.

donna hay's ANZAC Cookies from Classic 2.

The reason I started baking was pure gluttony. I wanted a sweet treat warm from the oven and I wasn't going to get it unless I made it myself. I used to bake alot more at home when I lived at home with my parents. It could have been because there was a dishwasher at home, I was used to the oven, mum has a stand mixer or maybe it was just that there were more mouths to feed and I didn't feel so guilty knowing I was going to eat the entire batch or cookies or whatever delicious morsel I was making that time around.

I still enjoy baking but I have to admit that I'm impatient now and never think earlier enough if I want something sweet then, it's always a little last minute. Also if a recipe then starts with... 'stand mixer' I quickly turn the page cursing to myself or if it then says let the batter stand I also turn the page cursing at myself wishing I was more organised.

I look for easy melt and mix recipe or ones that can be done in a food processor. I have one of them :)

My gluttony started with craving something a little different. Something I hadn't made before so I thought of opening one of my most trusty cake books 'Cake' by Alison Thompson and got all the ingredients out for Ginger nut biscuits except that I had no ground ginger. Yes I could have gone to the store and bought some but then it also means I could go and buy a packet of my all time favourites Arrnotts Mint Slice so going to the shop was out of the question. Next option was shortbread. I love a good shortbread with the caster sugar dusted on the outside. YUM. But the couple of recipes I found all required rice flour (ok I didn't look very hard either because I'm sure I could have found a shortbread recipe without rice flour somewhere in my recipe collection) but I also had the golden syrup out.

Melt and mix... melt and mix... Come on think girl!

ANZAC cookies! of course! I had all the ingredients in my pantry and it was a melt and mix recipe. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier??

ANZAC biscuits are an Australian Classic. Mothers and wives used to make them and send them to the troops at war. The ingredients used withstand long periods of time so they were perfect to send to their loved ones.

Most ANZAC cookies are a stock standard recipe of golden syrup, butter, coconut, flour, sugar, rolled oats and bi-carb. I went with a recipe from Donna Hay's Classics 2 (it was already out from looking up shortbread). All you do it place the flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats in a bowl. Melt the butter and golden syrup together. Add the bi-carb and some water together at the last minute then add that to the hot butter mixture. Everything bubbles up then pour it over the dry goodies in your bowl. So Easy!!

And so delicious might I say. Chewy and golden with the golden syrup giving it hints of caramel. Goes amazing with a cuppa!

Find the recipe I used here on Donna Hay's website.