Today I thought I would take advantage of the fact that out of the 7 people who live here on a regular basis, only 2 of us remain, and make cupcakes! Usually when I make delicious treats they are all gone within the day, but with it being just Richard and me, I thought I would seize this rare opportunity.

Everything initially went quite well, starting with the fact that Richard had eggs he was trying to get rid of (score, free eggs!), right up until the incident.

I was all ready to cup the cakes, and therefore retrieving the paper cases from the top shelf of my cupboard, when, apparently desperate to flee the confines of that wooden box and to escape their fate as cupcake clothing, the cases leapt from my finger tips and dove straight into Richard’s pot of boiling noodle water! I managed to hang on to one solitary case (the only sane one among them) while I stared helplessly at the rest bobbing about in Richard’s soon-to-be dinner. I am actually amazed that I didn’t plunge my hand in the boiling water to retrieve them, but I was for some reason fixated on the one I had in my hand, as if had I looked away it too would try to escape. Richard pushed me aside and fished out the cases with a wooden spoon. All I could say was “It’s ruined! We can’t have cupcakes now!” Richard looked at me, blinked a few times, then suggested I put them on the radiator to dry out. This seemed like a good enough idea, so I gave it a try. I kept them stacked together because the few that had separated from the pack had become totally flat and highly resistant to returning to cup form. After about 6 minutes, and with the oven already pre-heated, I decided taking a hair dryer to them would be a faster solution. It was. Once I got all the cases dried out, the road to delicious baked delights was smooth and clear.

I made chocolate cupcakes with butter cream icing; I even put a Lindt chocolate egg in the middle of a few of them (thanks Mum and Dad)!