Have you become just a little bit sick and tired of all the fuss there seems to be over cupcakes at the moment? I mean, get over it, please! They are simple little buns with a bit of icing on – now wind your necks in and stop charging the earth for something that probably only cost a matter of pence to make. In fact, better still, why not push the boat out and look at something different for a change, like lemon cupcakes for example.

There seems to be a rash of pretentious little bakeries having sprung up in most major cities up and down the country over recent years. They look simply delightful from the outside and definitely know how to tempt you inside. This you do and then you take a sneaky peak at the prices being asked for the tiny little buns and the next thing you know, you are on gas and air and a trained paramedic is bringing you back to life. How embarrassing! And such a shame, too, as you just fancied trying one of those gorgeous-looking lemon cupcakes you saw in the main display cabinet.

In all seriousness, though, you don’t want to have to pay these little bakeries their month’s rent for such a tiny cake. Of course, these bakeries have a living to make, but they don’t really have to exploit their customers in the process.

Many of us will probably remember a time in our childhood when cupcakes were a much more simple affair. You could buy a pack of six and only pay about the same as you would for any other similar bun nowadays. However, some little upstart definitely thought: “I know, let’s put some differently patterned icing on cheap sponge buns and charge up to £3 for the privilege.” This is especially the case in the small bakeries you find in central London.

Perhaps the way forward here is to look at producing very different types of cupcakes. We have already suggested the idea of lemon cupcakes, but we could go further than this and think about a whole other plethora of favours: maybe chocolate, or walnut; perhaps even orange or carrot.

About the Author: Emily Inglis is writing about lemon cupcakes