Gluten free lemony vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cakes

• 150 g dairy-free block margarine
• 225 g caster sugar
• 50 g dairy-free yoghurt unsweetened
• 150 ml dairy-free milk unsweetened
• 300 g gluten free self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 lemons for zest only (or 1 teaspoon lemon extract)

For the lemon buttercream

• 375 g icing sugar
• 200 g dairy-free margarine
• 1 lemon (zest and juice)
• 1 tablespoon dairy-free milk unsweetened
• yellow colouring, chocolate chips and candied orange (optional if you want to make chicks!)

Method

Cakes

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C/ 350F/ Gas4.
2. Line your cupcake tins with 12 large cupcake cases.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
4. In a food mixer or large bowl with electric whisk, beat together the block margarine and caster sugar for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
5. Add the yoghurt, milk, flour, bicarbonate of soda and lemon zest and beat again until fully combined.
6. Divide the mixture between cake cases, then bake for 18-20 minutes until a knife or skewer inserted in one of the cakes comes out clean.

Icing

1. Meanwhile, make the buttercream by beating the icing sugar, margarine, milk, lemon colouring and lemon juice together until smooth.
2. Pipe or smooth the icing over the top of each cake, and top each one with a little lemon zest for decoration.
3. To make little chicks, pipe the icing with a small nozzle to make feathers and add eyes and beaks using choc chips and candied orange.  Enjoy!