Bonfire Night Cupcakes

Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.

But also remember that bonfire night is the perfect time to get baking! For me, bonfire night is the official arrival of autumn slowly turning to winter. The leaves are now coming down in droves of orange and brown and scarves are finally freed from the wardrobe for good! A comfy, oversized jumper is great for cosy-ing up with a hot chocolate on the couch, or for wearing out to your local fireworks display!

Having never been the biggest fan of bonfire night, I decided that to combat the settling chill, and to celebrate in some way different this year, I'd whip up a batch of cinnamon and orange cupcakes, fashioned like adorable little bonfires. They came out even cuter than I expected and tasted fabulous. It certainly got me in the bonfire night mood, and I'm sure they'd do the same for you.

The cinnamon laced through the cupcakes is a nice, autumnal note that has a sweet kick but also warms the flavour. I try and get cinnamon into a lot of my bakes this time of year, and its so simple to throw into a cupcake for something a bit different and seasonal. Combined with the orange icing on top, shining bright like a real bonfire, these cupcakes are deliciously more-ish. And to add another level of indulgence, there's orange Matchmakers to make the bonfire logs. Rather than overwhelming the senses with orange, the Matchmakers only bring another great flavour element: chocolate! Who doesn't love a chocolate treat on a cold evening!?

I certainly do, and altogether I'm ecstatic with these cupcakes and how simple they are to put together. Perfect for a quiet bonfire night in, or as a treat when you shuffle in from the cold after a fireworks display, to make your own set of 12 you'll need:

FOR THE CAKES

4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
2 eggs
4oz self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
3-4 tbsps of cinnamon (depending on your tolerance for it!)

FOR THE ICING
(I never actually accurately measure for butter icing, so this is a bit of an estimate for you all!)

2-3oz butter
4-6oz icing sugar
Zest of 2 large oranges
Orange and red food colouring
Orange Matchmakers

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan). Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the 2 eggs and mix well before adding the flour. Next, put in the vanilla essence and cinnamon, mixing until evenly distributed. Place into cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes.

Once baked, leave to cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile, make the icing by creaming together the icing sugar and butter, adding more icing sugar until it holds a shape without falling over or depleting. Add the orange zest and orange food colouring. Once a bright orange, add a touch of red. Do not mix it in fully, but enough for it to be marbled.

Make sure the cakes are cool enough to ice,. Using a Wilton 2D tip, or another star shaped tip of your choice, ice fires onto the top of the cupcakes. Pipe onto all, then for each one, break a Matchmaker unevenly into four. Place onto the icing, touching at the top to form a bonfire shape. For extra effect, use orange, white and red fruity confetti to act as sparks.

Last but not least, eat and enjoy!

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Have you ever baked anything special for bonfire night?