Method (cupcakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
2. In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
4. Add the oil and butterscotch flavouring to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.
6. Fill the cases 3/4 full with the batter. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
7. Pop the cakes into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
8. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting.

Method (frosting)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and cream cheese and whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla and whip to combine.
3. Pour in the aquafaba and whip on high speed for 5-8 minutes until this and creamy. If it’s too thin, add more butter until it’s the right, airy consistency. 
4. Once smooth, take out 1/4 of the buttercream and transfer into 4 separate bowls. Add red food gel to one bowl and mix, then green, yellow and blue to the other bowls to create the Hogwarts house colours. Transfer the coloured buttercreams into separate piping bags. 
5. Transfer the white buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle.
6. Core the cupcakes using an apple corer, then fill the holes with the coloured buttercreams.
7. Pipe a swirl of the white buttercream on top of each cupcake. 
8. Add some some star sprinkles (optional).

Method (Sorting hat)

1. Separate an Oreo cookie in half, then scrape out the cream filling trying not to break the cookies. You can snack on the cream filling or store them in a sealed container to use for something else. 
2. Cut off the pointy tip of an ice-cream, big enough to look like a witches hat when place on the Oreo.
3. Add the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl. Fill a small saucepan 1/4 with water and place over the hob on a low / medium heat. Place the bowl on-top to create a bain-marie. Melt the chocolate.
4. Dip the base of the ice-cream cone to the chocolate then place onto one of the cookies (see photo for example).
5. Freeze, then coat the entire hat in chocolate, set on some grease-proof paper and transfer into the freezer to set fully. Once set, remove form the freezer and place on top of the frosting, serve.