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When I received yet another email asking me for summer cupcake party suggestions, I didn't need any more reminding that we are in the 'pretty' cupcake season. Big cupcakes, little cupcakes... all sizes can be right for celebrating graduations, baby and wedding showers, family gatherings, picnics and garden parties. They can even become a memorable 'wedding cake'.

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Getting prepared

I like to get my cupcakes organised early for this busy season. First I go shopping for the prettiest cupcake liners that I can find. After baking several batches of yellow cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes, I wrap the cooled cakes tightly and freeze them for up to a month. When the first gathering or party comes along, I defrost as many cupcakes as I need, fit a pastry bag with a star tip, fill the bag with frosting and pipe out swirls of frosting over the top of each cake. It's a pretty and fast way to frost and decorate in one easy step. Alternatively use a thin spatula to spread the frosting over the cupcakes.

In the video below Dan Lepard shows three different ways to use buttercream to make your cupcakes look really impressive.

Frostings

The frosting I use is generally buttercream-type icing. The most basic buttercream frosting is made from butter and powdered sugar, then add a little liquid (this can include melted chocolate) and a little flavoring such as vanilla extract, liqueurs or citrus zest. You can also use cream cheese to replace some of the butter to produce an ultra-creamy frosting that is less sweet. If you wish to freeze the frosting, once the cupcakes are decorated, chill or freeze them uncovered to firm the frosting. As soon as the frosting is firm, wrap them individually, seal tightly in a container, and freeze for up to one month. Be sure to defrost cupcakes with their wrapping on so that any condensation that forms will form on the wrapper, not on the cupcake. Freezing the frosting alone is not a time saver. You have to defrost it, beat it again to fluff it and then spread it on the cupcakes.

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Weddings

For weddings, cupcakes can be arranged on glass pedestal platters, pretty platters or cupcake wire stands. I scatter sprinkles, chocolate curls, or edible and unsprayed flowers over the frosting to top off my decorations: violets, rose petals or nasturtiums can be used from the start of spring to the last days of summer. Speak to the bride and groom about what they want, but remember that it's a good idea to keep decorations simple. A smooth white or chocolate glaze looks nice. Or try using silver or gold liners for the cupcakes and toppings of edible gold leaf, silver or gold or white .

Serving cupcakes is so easy. They're already in single portion servings and each one is nesting in its own decorative container. If I want to transport them, I pop them back in their baking pans and into a basket or box where they will sit safely over bumpy roads or on swaying trains.

Filling the cases

You can get so many different sized cases these days, so a good guide for how much batter you should add to each cupcake pan or liner is to take it generally to about 1cm/½in below the top of the liner - often about a quarter of a cup of batter (sorry, I think in American cups... you can ). Mini-cupcake liners or fairy cakes should be filled to about 5mm/¼in below the top of the liner - often about one tablespoon of batter. A recipe that makes 12 normal size cupcakes will make about 48 mini-cakes.

Decoration ideas

Look for seasonal decorations in markets, specialist baking stores and party decoration shops. Below are some ideas to get started at different times of the year:

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• Birthdays: Candles, especially tall thin ones in multi-colors, are apropos and easy; chocolate curls make gorgeous and delicious decorations.
• Picnics: Crushed toffee or other candy makes a nice edible decoration; picnic cupcakes should be able to stand up to warm weather or a few drops of rain.
• Garden parties: Edible and unsprayed flower petals and small flowers are perfect.
• Graduation: Chocolate frosted cupcakes are great for this; look for candy diplomas or tassel hats to decorate; using a pastry bag fitted with a writing tip and putting one letter on each cupcake, pipe congratulations and the name of the graduate in white frosting.
• Baby showers: Yellow or pink and blue sprinkles look lovely on white frosting; decorate platters with ribbons or use curling ribbon to surround the cupcakes on a platter.Ìý Shredded coconut makes a fluffy pretty topping and pastel candies tucked into the coconut look even better.
• Mother's Day: Tint frosting pink with a few drops of food coloring; decorate with a scattering of fresh raspberries or small , such as pansies.

So over to you, what are your favourite decorations for cupcakes? How do you take your cupcake decorating to the next level?

Elinor Klivans is a cookbook author and food writer specialising in baking.