FOX-DESIGN CUPCAKES 

Celebrate Fox Day on 22 May with this delicious recipe for 12 fox-design cupcakes! 

Ingredients 

• 150ml almond or soy milk  

• A splash of cider vinegar 

• 110g vegan butter of your choice  

• 110g caster sugar  

• 1tsp vanilla extract  

• 225g self-raising flour  

• ½ tsp baking powder  

• Orange food colouring 

• Some chocolate beans (or black food colouring) 

For the buttercream 

• 125g vegan butter of your choice 

• 250g icing sugar   

• ½ tsp vanilla extract 

Method 

Step 1 

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Pop 12 paper cupcake cases into a 12-hole cupcake tin. Stir the milk and vinegar in a jug and leave to thicken slightly for a few minutes. 

Step 2 

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until well combined (my kids don’t like the noise, so we whisk by hand, which works out just fine). Whisk in the vanilla, then add the milk just a splash at a time, alternating with spoonfuls of the flour. Fold in any remaining flour, the baking powder and a pinch of salt until you get a creamy batter. Tell the kids not to worry if it looks a bit curdled at this stage! 

Step 3 

Divide the mixture between your cupcake cases so they’re about two-thirds full, and bake for 20-25 mins until golden and risen. Leave to cool on a wire rack.  

Step 4 

To make the buttercream, beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. Again, we do this by hand which means the finish isn’t as polished but still tastes great! Divide the icing between two bowls. Keep one bowl as white icing and colour the other bowl with orange food colouring till you get the fox-fur-colour you want!  

Step 5 

Spoon or pipe the orange icing in a T shape on the cooled cupcakes. Add in a big dollop of icing for each ear. Fill in the surrounding spaces with white icing. Place the fox’s eyes (chocolate beans, or drops of black icing) in the top of the white area, and a nose at the bottom of the orange T. 

All done!