1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (or 160°C/325°F if you're using a fan or convection oven). Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper liners.

2. Mix the soy milk and vinegar together and set aside. It will curdle and thicken slightly, acting as a dairy-free version of buttermilk.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and sugar. Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract and mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.

4. Divide the cake batter between your 12 liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick through the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

For the buttercream:

1. Add the margarine to a large bowl and mix briefly to soften it. Add in the icing sugar, a little bit at a time until it's all used up, then stir in the lemon extract. If the buttercream is too thick, add a splash of soy milk. If it's too runny, add more icing sugar.

2. Place 2 tablespoons of the buttercream into a small bowl, then add 2 more tablespoons to another small bowl. Add orange food colouring to one, and black/brown food colouring to the other. Stir the yellow food colouring into the remaining icing in the larger bowl.

3. Transfer the yellow buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe a large blob onto the centre of your cooled cupcakes, followed by a smaller blob on top.

4. Add the orange and black buttercream into piping bags fitted with small writing tips. Use the black one to pipe on two eyes and use the orange one to pipe a beak and two feet, as pictured.