As she’s quite a popular gal, I knew we’d need a lot because she’s got lots of lovely friends. I kinda got carried away because the lovely Miss Jane gave me a cupcake cookbook for Christmas, and the recipes all sounded so yummy, I couldn’t resist making a few different kinds. In the end, I made 64 cupcakes, in 6 different varieties, adding my own twist to the recipes:

• Cappuccino – a coffee flavoured cupcake with mocha buttercream frosting
• Bakewell Tart – wheat-free almond cupcakes with a cherry inside and a lemon glaze
• Vanilla Buttercream – vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting
• Sweet Almond – wheat-free almond cupcakes with a fondant glaze
• Bittersweet Symphony – coffee flavoured cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache
• Lemon Zinger – vanilla cupcakes with a zesty lemon glaze

They went down a treat, but I will think twice about making so many cupcakes all in one go… or at least next time, stick to one or two different types! They looked (and tasted) amazing – which you probably can’t tell from the awful iPhone photo above – but it took me several hours and the kitchen was a wreck afterwards. Whew – I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

(excuse the horrible photo, but it was taken with my iPhone – rubbish!)

I decided to add some sparkle by scattering a few gold glittery leaves around the rather realistic-looking log. And damn it tasted good. That Nigella knows how to bake a thing or two. Everything I have ever made from her How To Be a Domestic Goddess book has come out amazing.