What do Mums like? Hmmm. Difficult. I know what most of us don’t like. After a quick poll of my Mum mates I found a general agreement that we don’t like being used as a hankerchief. Most of us walk about with knees/thighs/tummies/shoulders covered in snot. The height of the body dependant on the age of our children.

We are not so keen on retrieving foreign objects from little mouths either. It’s not the mouth that’s the issue, it’s the possibility of what might be in it. So far today I have removed a dried leaf, a dead spider and a small piece of unidentified plastic from my youngest child’s chops.

And contrary to popular belief we’re less than keen on telling our children off. It’s not fun, it makes us feel like a nag and it prematurely ages us, so just quit hammering the car window with your Matchbox car/biting your brother/staying out until 3am and not calling/trying to escape across busy roads whilst giggling like a loon. Then we can be Fun Mum. A breed rarely met, but much revered.

I’m afraid I don’t know what all Mums like. To state the obvious, we’re all individuals. I can hazard a guess that most people (Mums or not) rather like a sit down now and again. And often with a hot beverage of choice and a slice of cake. Well, this is quite literally a cupcake, easy to make and oh so delicious. Of course if your Mum isn’t a carrot cake lover you could choose whatever cake her favourite is. It is Mother’s Day, after all.

NB: Please check that your teacup can be heated to 170C. Dishwasher safe is a good sign… anything very old or precious or dainty should not be used, save it cracks.

Makes one large cupcake and one smaller one. (About 10cm across and about 5cm across at the top of the cup.) It all depends on the size of your cups. I can’t be more specific than that, sorry.

Ingredients:

• 75g self raising flour
• 1 large egg
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g margarine/soft butter
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp whole/semi skimmed milk
• zest of one orange
• 50g grated carrot (about 1 large carrot/1.5 medium)
• 115g cream cheese
• 90g icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon