Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven) mark 4. Line two 12-hole muffin tins with 24 muffin cases.
Step 2
Put the butter, lemon zest, sugar, eggs, almonds and flour into a food processor and blend until evenly combined.
Step 3
Half fill each muffin case with a rounded tablespoonful of cake mixture. Bake for 20min until the cakes are golden, firm and risen. Leave to cool in the tins.
Step 4
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add 2tbsp hot water, then stir well until smooth. Divide two-thirds of the icing between two further bowls. Dip a cocktail stick in the red colour, then stir into one bowl of icing until evenly coloured pink. Repeat with the blue colour in the second bowl of icing, then combine a drop of red with a drop of blue to make lilac icing in the third bowl. Stir well.
Step 5
Spoon icing on to each cupcake. If decorating with sugared almonds, add before icing sets. Leave to set for 20min. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.
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An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
