You will need:
125g butter, at room temperature
125g golden caster sugar
110g self-raising flour
2 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon orange zest, grated
50 g plain chocolate chips
5 tablespoons ready-made buttercream icing
To decorate:
Cheerios
Chocolate buttons
M&Ms (chocolate)
Tube white chocolate writing icing
Jelly beans
Giant chocolate buttons
White chocolate buttons
Marshmallows
Hundreds and thousands
Heart-shaped chocolates
Makes 10 cupcakes
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180oC/350oF/Gas 4. Beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy and smooth.
2. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, a little at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture with the second egg.
3. Mix in the orange zest and the remaining flour and cocoa, until blended. Finally, stir in the chocolate pieces.
4. Line a large muffin tray with 10 paper cases and fill each one until two-thirds full. Bake the muffins for 20–22 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove the muffins and place on a wire cooling rack.
5. When the cupcakes are cool, spread a little buttercream over each of the cupcakes and then decorate them to look like goldfish.
Recipe taken from Annabel's Kitchen, published by Ebury Press, £12.99 to accompany a new CiTV series airing daily at 3.30pm and on ITV1 on Sundays at 7.10am. For more information visit www.annabelkarmel.com.
More on Parentdish: