Cupcake Fancy

Inspiration taken from the sweet shiny jellybeans.

Colors taken from Wilton concentrated gels. It was deeply satisfying to see how these color gels put on such a fancy show of glossy finish. It would make any sort of day brighter, which I shall keep in mind for future reference.

Now since Hill upon Hill asked for the recipe of Hot Cross Buns served at my house yesterday;

You will need 2 cups of flour, 4 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 Tablespoon yeast, 1 egg, pinch of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (or any variety of cinnamon and allspice). First sift the flour, salt and spices into large bowl. Dissolve the butter and sugar in warm milk, and add the yeast. Leave for 3 minutes, stir and add beaten egg. Pour the liquid in the flour mixture and beat until smooth. I use a mixer for this. The dough will be very moist. You can knead in your mixer or on a floured surface ( be careful not to add too much flour as this will make for drier buns). 1/4 cup of lemon or orange peel and 1/2 cup raisins may be incorporated into the dough at this time. Put a spoonful of oil into a plastic bag and place the dough into the bag. Set in a warm place to rise. When it has doubled in size, thump out all the air, leave to rise once again for 30 minutes (I have left this stage out in a hurry-and all was well). Remove the dough and shape into round buns; place in greased pan. Depending on now long you have for rising will determine how many buns to form. In 20 minutes you may have 4 buns or if you have the time, make smaller buns, I make 8, and allow rising time to get desired size of buns. (about 1-1/2 hours). I like to take food scissors and gently cut a cross into the top before slipping them into the oven, but you may want to cut the cross before rising. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I mix up an icing of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract to dribble on the cross since my family appreciates the touch of sweetness.