Fiona Cairns' Little Monsters Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/350°F /Gas Mark 4. Line 2 12-hole muffin tin with 16 cupcake cases

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, add the orange zest, sugar, butter and eggs and, lastly, add half the orange juice. Beat together using an electric mixer, a food processor or a bowl and an electric whisk. Do not over-mix

Divide the batter between the cupcake cases. Bake in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cakes spring back to the touch

While the cupcakes are cooking, make the drizzle syrup. First reserve just a teaspoon or two of the remaining orange juice for the glacé icing, Then mix the rest of the orange juice with the caster sugar in a bowl. (If you are planning to freeze the cupcakes, don't make the drizzle syrup now; freeze the cupcakes after they've baked and cooled and only make the drizzle syrup – and decorations – once you have defrosted them.)

As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, prick holes all over each of them with a cocktail stick. Now douse the cake with the drizzle syrup. Leave them to cool completely in the tins

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, make the glacé icing. Place the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually add just enough of the set-aside orange juice to make a pourable consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Pour about a spoonful of the icing over each cake, gently easing it with a spoon so it spreads to the edges. Allow to set for an hour or so

Now you can start to make your monsters. You'll need about 20g to 30g of sugarpaste in various colours (I used 8 different colours) for the monsters bodies and heads, and about 20g of white sugarpaste for the eyes and teeth

Use the royal icing to stick the monster parts together. Decorate each cupcake with a monster, adhering it with a blob of royal icing, if necessary