It was only a few years ago that I saw It's a Wonderful Life for the first time - and amazingly, it lived up to its reputation. There's something brilliant about a Christmas film for all the family that starts off so bleak and miserable before leaping back into feel-good territory. It's like Scrooge, but with an even more tragic first act. And what better way to celebrate Jimmy Stewart's change of heart than with a cupcake?

Ingredients

100g butter

100g sugar

100g SR flour

2 eggs

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Decorating

Icing sugar

Water

Blue colouring

Black colouring

Butter

Sugar paper

Mix all the ingredients together and bake in an oven for 15 minutes (until springy to the touch) at around 180 degrees. Then, mix up some white icing and sculpt it into the shape of a thingy. Once you have your suggestive peak of icing, make another one. Assemble them onto the cake like football posts.

Whip butter, icing sugar and blue colouring together (with some vanilla essence) for your frosting. Ice around the goalposts/phalluses in straight lines to create a snow effect.

While that solidifies, grab a sheet of sugar wafer paper and fold over one edge twice. Use drops of water to hold the layers together so you end up with one thick strip. Mix up some black icing and pipe on the letters "Bedford Falls" (if you can fit in "You are now in Bedford Falls", give yourself a bonus point). Cut around your makeshift roadsign and, using a few more drops of water, attach it to the two posts.

Sprinkle with a light dusting of icing sugar and there you go:

It IS a pretty wonderful cupcake.

Head this way for more Christmas cake ideas.