Butterfly and flower cakes

To make cupcakes, blend together 230 g self-raising flour, 170 g castor sugar, 170 g soft butter, three large eggs, 22 ml milk and 5 ml vanilla essence with a wooden spoon.
Beat on high for one minute.
Place cupcake papers into cupcake baking tins and fill two thirds of the way up with batter.
Bake at 150 °C for one hour or until cooked through.
Make icing by beating 125 g soft butter or margarine until light.
Add 225 g sifted icing sugar, 7 ml hot water and 2 ml vanilla essence and beat until soft and creamy.
Add a little more hot water if the icing is too thick.
Divide the icing into three bowls and add food colouring to make pastel colours.
Spread onto the cupcakes.
Use liquorice strips and sweets to make butterfly shapes on some of the cupcakes and sweets to make flower shapes on others.