Fairy cakes

I had the privilege last week of looking after my gorgeous Goddaughter for the day. I had promised her we would do some baking and after a morning at the aquarium it was back to our house to create something in the kitchen. I thought fairy cakes would be a good option as they are quick and easy to rustle up and can then be decorated in any way you fancy with lots of different colour, flavour and decoration options. We opted for some pink and chocolate icing and Smarties as decoration. We had good fun and she was very proud of her cakes!

I used a Jo Wheatley recipe from ‘A Passion for Baking’. We made 16 cakes although our cases were quite full so you could make even more with slightly less mixture in each case. You will need cake cases and 2 bun tins.

Ingredients:

175g caster sugar
175g margarine (We used a ‘Stork’ type baking spread)
3 large eggs (beaten)
300g icing sugar
3-5 tablespoons water (cold)
assorted sweets, colouring, flavouring and sprinkles

Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2) Cream the sugar and margarine together until pale, light and fluffy, either by hand using an electric whisk or in a free-standing mixer.

3) Gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition (if you’re mixture curdles add a teaspoon of the flour).
4) All the flour and mix until thoroughly combined.

5) Spoon the mixture into the paper bun cases, filling each one half full.

6) Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown and well risen (a wooden skewer or cocktail stick should come out clean when pushed into the cakes).
7) Remove the cakes from the bun tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.
8) Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick paste (add colouring at this point if using and any flavourings e.g. cocoa powder).
9) Spoon the icing sugar over the cooled fairy cakes; while the icing is still wet, decorate with your chosen decorations.