Sunday night sweetness

What to do on a cold Sunday night in with two teenaged girls to entertain and nothing good on TV? Host a cupcake decorating competition, of course. I mixed up a batch of my favourite vanilla cupcakes and plain buttercream icing, using an adaptation from the Magnolia Bakery (NYC) recipe that I love so much. Mr B went all out at the supermarket, buying up natural food colouring, sprinkles, edible sparkles and tubes of coloured piping.

The girls were incredibly creative with their designs. There was a blue-sky rainbow scene, a glowing eye, yin and yang, and even a scooped out bowl of pasta with candy spaghetti bolognese (a tribute to the delicious spag bol we'd eaten earlier for dinner, courtesy of Deb from Bright and Precious). We were very impressed, and Mr B sure had a tough time judging the winner.

It was just lovely to sit in the other room and listen them quietly chatting with one another as they mixed up colours and textures and patterns. It's so nice that, despite being in Years 8 and 9 respectively, they still take so much pleasure in these types of activities. (And I confess we all took pleasure in eating them, later, too.)