This cupcake recipe shows how to make buttercream cupcakes.  Here, buttercream cupcakes are used to represent the four seasons of the year; white for winter, green for spring, red for summer and brown for autumn.

Ingredients – Serves 6 to 8 cupcakes

• 75g basic cupcake mix
• few drops vanilla extract
• Buttercream – enough to cover 8 cupcakes
• Brown food colouring
• Red food colouring
• Green food colouring

Getting everything ready

1. Make the basic mix for cupcakes and add a few drops of vanilla extract for flavour.  Bake and allow to cool.
2. Make a batch of buttercream and divide this between four small bowls.
3. Leave one bowl white.
4. Add a touch of green food colouring to one bowl.
5. Add a touch of red food colouring to one bowl.
6. Put a touch of brown food colouring to one bowl.
7. Prepare four paper piping bags fitted with small plain tubes.

Method

1. Spread a little white buttercream over the top of each cupcake.  Use the back of a small knife to mark the buttercream cupcakes into four equal quarters.
2. Starting with the white buttercream, fill a paper piping bag and pipe small dots covering one quarter of the top of the cupcake.
3. Fill a paper piping bag with the green buttercream and pipe small dots covering one quarter of the top of the cupcake.
4. Fill one of the other quarters with the red buttercream and the last quarter with brown buttercream.

You can exchange these colours for any you wish.  You could use the colours of your favourite sports team for example.

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