Newsround Halloween Bake Off: Ricky's Vanilla Thriller cupcakes

Make sure you have an adult with you when you're baking!

Ingredients

110g butter or margarine, softened at room temperature

110g caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g self-raising flour

1-2 tbsp milk

For the buttercream icing

140g butter, softened

280g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

A few drops of food colouring

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

• Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale. Beat in the eggs a little at a time and stir in the vanilla extract.

• Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little milk until the mixture is of a dropping consistency. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full.

• Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

• For the buttercream icing, beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

• Then add the remaining icing sugar with one tablespoon of the milk, adding more milk if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

• Add the food colouring and mix until well combined.

• Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe the icing using a spiralling motion onto the cup cakes in a large swirl.