"Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words 'EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants." (p43)

 I have awarded this recipe a difficulty rating of: ★★
Ingredients:

For the cupcakes -
♥ 110g soft margarine
♥ 110g caster sugar
♥ 2 eggs
♥ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
♥ 100g self-raising flour
♥ 2 tablespoons milk

For the icing -

♥ 140g soft butter
♥ 280g icing sugar
♥ 2 tablespoons milk
♥ 2-3 drops food colouring (optional)

Recipe:   

For the cupcakes - 

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Line a baking tray with paper cases. 
2) Cream together the butter and sugar, before beating together with the eggs.
3) Add the vanilla extract, stir until pale.
4) Gradually fold in the flour, slowly adding the milk until a soft - not runny - consistency. 
5) Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.
6) Bake for 8-10 minutes, then leave to cool.

For the icing - 

1) Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until soft. 
2) Gradually add the icing sugar and milk until smooth and creamy.
3)  Stir through 2-3 drops of food colouring.
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Of all the recipes on the blog, this is the one I entered into with the greatest confidence; already finding every opportunity in life to make cupcakes. Birthday? Bake! Christmas? Bake! New curtain shower? Bake!

 
Having pre-heated the oven, I creamed together the flour, butter, eggs, sugar and milk - leaving out the vanilla essence due to personal taste. At this stage, each and every time, without fail, I silently curse myself for not yet having invested in a electric whisk. But ho hum, at this rate I'll have arms of steel one day.

After spooning the mixture into the pink, paper cases I popped the baking tray into the oven. Unfortunately, whilst waiting for the batter to transform into a yummy cakey delight, the need for a cigarette arose... resulting in a slightly crisper appearance than usual.

Next up, it was time to make the butter cream icing. After browsing the supermarket's home baking aisle, I settled on pink food colouring to add a sense of girly Wonderland to the occasion - much to the disdain of my all male housemates. Although they soon stop complaining after I reminded them of my current residence in diet hell, so only they would be benefiting from this blogging venture.

Smothering each cupcake with a generous helping of sickly sweet butter cream was the hardest part of this entire bake, bitterly resisting the urge to lick the spoon afterwards. In the spirit of 
Alice in Wonderland, I iced each cake with the words 'Eat Me' in blue fondant - matching Alice's iconic dress. On a whim, I also sprinkled white chocolate stars over the top. Voila!
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In terms of narrative function, the physical act of eating the cake causes Alice to grow to a gigantic size, so large that her head pushes against the ceiling - far from a solution to her previous problem of being unable to reach the key she left behind on the table. The daintiness of the cake severely juxtaposes its impact on poor Alice. 

It could be argued that from a modern perspective, her magical transformation is a warning about the dangers of indulgence in unhealthy food (obesity). However, many believe it was in fact originally a representation of puberty, a sign of the awkward bodily transformations that Alice is soon to experience. The sheer enormity of her size demonstrates a symbolic, if some what alarming, end to her childhood.

 Works Cited:

 Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. London: Wordsworth Editions, 2001.