Extra Moist Butter Cake Recipe: Butter Cupcakes With Lemon Frosting

Nothing beats the smell of cake cooking in the oven, more so when it is a butter cake. A freshly home made prepared butter cake.

The house is filled with gorgeous aromas that heighten your senses.

With this extremely easy butter cake recipe, you can whip up a butter cake or a batch of butter cupcakes (as demonstrated) in no time at all. The ingredients discussed will make one cake or a dozen cupcakes. The cooking times provided are for the cupcakes. Cooking a butter cake as a whole will take closer to one hour.

This is a moist, buttery and simply delicious cake that delivers in flavour and texture.

Tip cooked cupcakes or whole cake out onto a rack to cook before proceeding to adding any icing to them. You will be tempted to break cupcake open and no doubt if you do you will notice just how soft, buttery and moist they are. They are truly morish.

This photo on the right shows the combination of cupcakes made. Some are plain butter cupcakes, some have shaved dark chocolate in them. You will see by reading further that there are a number of variations you can make to this recipe to suit your theme, taste buds or desires.

There are so many ways to alter a basic butter cake recipe. Here are just a few suggestions that are tried and tested.

• Chocolate Butter Cake ~ Shave Dark Chocolate and mix into some of all of the cake before baking. The health benefits of dark chocolate are incredible so why not make your cake 'healthy'.
• Spiced Butter Cake ~ Add a teaspoon of cinnamon into mix before baking.
• Green, Red or Purple Cake ~ Simply add a few drops of food coloring into mix before baking. If you do want to make your own food coloring, see some ideas here.
• Lemon or Orange Butter Cake ~ Simply shave orange or lemon zest into the mix before baking. Quantity to vary depending on taste.
• Fruit Butter Cake ~ Drop some plump raisons, sultanas or dried fruit into mix before baking.

If you have children who love to bake, get them involved in the mixing, the measuring and better still, the decoration. Little hands need easy to hold measuring spoons and cups.

I strongly recommend some gorgeous Babushka Measuring Cups and Spoons. They are perfect for holding, easy to wash and when not in use, make a great centrepiece.

As you can see, little hands have helped decorate some of these butter cupcakes with lemon icing and colorful sprinkles.

You can ice your butter cupcakes with any flavour you choose, or keep them plain if you prefer. This recipe includes a lemon icing which is very simple to make.

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon milk

Just mix all together, preferable with a fork to ensure no lumps. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon (about 1 tablespoon). Use more or less depending on your taste.

Decorate your cupcakes as simply or as creatively as you choose. Use different flavours, different colors, swirls or fruit.

If you have any cupcakes left, (and that will be hard given how yummy these are), store them in a dry, airtight container for up to a week. They are great re-warmed also.