Leo the Lion Decorated Cupcakes

For the cupcakes: Heat the oven to 350°F. Place 15 paper liners in muffin tins.

Put the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Gently fold in the flour, spice, grated carrots and vanilla, until thoroughly combined.

Spoon into the paper liners and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the buttercream: beat the butter until soft. Gradually sift in the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

Add 1 tablespoon cream and the vanilla and beat until creamy and smooth. Beat in the remaining cream if necessary, to loosen the mixture.

Spread on the cupcakes.

To decorate: roll out the yellow sugarpaste thinly on a surface dusted with icing sugar and cut out petals, using 1 large petal cutter and 1 smaller. You will need about 20 large petals and 8-10 smaller petals for each cake.

Arrange the larger petals on the cake as in the photo. Brush the smaller petals lightly with water and attach to the larger petals.

Roll out the light brown sugarpaste thickly and cut out 12 small discs for the faces.

Make the facial markings with a toothpick.

Shape 24 small pieces of dark brown sugarpaste into ear shapes and attach to the top of the discs with a little water.

Roll 12 small balls of dark brown sugarpaste for the noses and attach to the faces with a dab of water.