Father's Day Cupcakes

Heat the oven to 180°C, (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Line a cup cake tray with 12 paper cupcake cases.

Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time until smooth, adding a little flour if the mixture curdles.

Stir in the flour and cocoa powder until smooth. Place heaped dessert spoons in each cupcake case and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and just firm to the touch. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.

To make the buttercream; mix the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy and add a drop of blue food colouring.

Fill a piping bag with the buttercream and pipe on to each cupcake. Roll out the white sugar paste icing and cut into a thin 1 inch strip. To create the collar simply fold in the left and right corners to overlap. To make the tie, cut out a tie shape from the pink and yellow sugar paste and decorate with dots using writing icing.