It’s Christmas season now so time to relax that diet and what better way than with cupcakes, which are in vogue at the moment.

This recent publication of Celebration Cupcakes by New Zealand author Tamara Jane had my mouth watering and head spinning with ideas of occasions to create such delicacies. This follows Jane’s first book Divine Cupcakes.

I discovered Jane was well versed on writing such books having her own cupcake shop in Wellington called Tempt, a place I’d now love to visit.

There are cupcakes for Festive and Seasonal occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, as well as Mother’s Day and St Patrick’s Day. Special days such as birthdays, high tea and baby showers are included as are cupcakes for special diets such as lactose intolerance, gluten-free and vegans.

If a cupcake just isn’t your thing, six delightfully decorated large cakes look truly decadent.

I loved the ease of making each cupcake with an easy to follow recipe followed by clear instructions for decorations. The final chapters were particularly helpful with recipes for frostings and fillings including dairy free vanilla frosting, champagne frosting and ganache. Decoration techniques gave instructions for using silicon moulds, making icing bows, flowers and leaves, chocolate tiles and flood work. Mmmm, I think I’ll give the Pumpkin and Ginger cupcakes a go next!