Someone once said that cake is the food equivalent of alcohol. It gives you the same warm feeling and everyone loves the occasional nibble and tipple.

The same applies to cupcakes if and only if it comes covered with that palate-numbingly sweet icing. Call me old fashioned but there is something naked about an un-iced cupcake; the icing is the most celebrated layer.

There is something magical when you make the icing for cupcakes. Some say it is the colourful swirl while others swear to the fact that the two inches of sweet buttercream will result in an infantile impulse to ingest these individualized desserts. I have included two of my favourite recipes for cupcake icing.

The first is a recipe from Magnolia Bakery in New York. The bakery was featured once or twice in Sex and the City and is now included as one of the stops for the Sex and the City tour. It a basic buttercream but I thought I’d answer my inner chocoholic’s call and share their recipe for chocolate buttercream.

Essentially, to ice two dozen cupcakes, you will need to melt 255g of chocolate. I like to use dark chocolate for a little bit of sophistication but if you are doing this for the kids, then milk chocolate will appeal to their sweet palate.

Allow to cool while you beat 340g of unsalted butter until it is light and creamy. To this, add two tablespoons of milk. Continue beating and then add the cooled, melted chocolate mixture and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Once the mixture is smooth and homogeneous, gradually add 2¼ cups of sifted icing sugar and beat on low speed until you get a creamy consistency. If you can avoid licking the bowl clean, you are now ready to ice your cupcakes.

The next recipe is from a local favourite - Ghermez Cupcakes. If you want your cupcakes with a touch of glam without the artificial ingredients, then Ghermez is your stop. Some must-haves: dulce de leche, peanut butter chocolate and mango trio cupcakes. Ghermez has kindly given me their non-buttercream based frosting. A guaranteed crowd pleaser minus the added calories. For their strawberry icing, go to my website.

These are merely two of my favourite flavours. I am sure you have your own favourites. How do you ice these naked beauties?