Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and line your baking tray with appropriate cupcake liners.

In a bowl, add in the dry ingredients - flour, salt, and baking powder, and keep aside. Don’t mix the cocoa powder now.

In another bowl or stand mixer (you can also use an electric beater for this), add in the wet ingredients - milk, vanilla extract, eggs, and oil and mix it well.

Now add in the flour mixture in batches while mixing gently. Next, slowly add in the water and mix till it's fully incorporated. Lastly, sift and add the cocoa powder and give one final mix.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the batter and fill your liners till 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let it completely cool down.

Icing –
1. For frosting, cream the butter using an electric mixer until it's nice and creamy, add in the vanilla extract and sugar (in batches) and beat until it has a smooth consistency. Add the gel food color and mix well.
2. Fill the icing in a piping bag, (I am using an open star tip nozzle here), and start decorating your cupcakes. First, pipe small dollops of icing around the outer rim (edge) and then pipe another row inside.
3. For the decor, I’m using store-bought fondant. Take a little piece of it and roll it out and cut out star-shaped fondant decor for your cupcakes.
4. Place 2 stars on top of each cupcake and also for that extra cuteness add in some sprinkles on it.
5. Enjoy!