I don’t know about you but we’re well & truly over winter! Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer the colder seasons to the heat of summer but my perfect weather can be described as, “freezing cold with the sun in the sky,” – certainly not the rain, sleet, snow & the gale force winds that we seem to be in the midst of at present. These constant grey skies have us craving the start of spring and these Spring Fairy Cakes seem to be just what the doctor ordered!
In terms of recipes, it doesn’t get much simpler than these. It was actually my eldest son, John, who prompted me to make these sweet spongy delights, asking that we bake some, “little cakes.” Fairy cakes were always a favourite of mine as a kid too, so I more more than happy to oblige. Plus these Spring Fairy Cakes easy enough for kids to get involved through the entire process, so perfect for the Half Term break or the upcoming Easter Holidays.
I also had a packet of Wafer Daisies that were needing used up, so I thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to brighten up some otherwise rather plain cakes. You can of course decorate them however you please but I like the over all look of these little flower-topped cakes and how they remind me that brighter weather is on the way!
Ingredients:
Butter or Margarine
You’ll need some butter or margarine for both the fairy cake sponge and the buttercream topping. Whichever you choose is personal preference. However if you use butter, ensure it’s at least room temperature or you’ll have trouble mixing it.
And as for margarine, the spreadable kind is perfect for the fairy cake sponge but a block margarine tends to make a nicer buttercream.
Caster Sugar
All the best cakes have sugar in them, right? Like many a simple sponge, these fairy cakes use caster sugar. Just the right amount of sweetness, in a fine sugar that mixes and bakes beautifully.
Eggs
Eggs work as the binder in this sponge recipe, holding all the other ingredients together as they bake. The size of your eggs isn’t overly important but just be sure to use free-range.
Vanilla Extract
This fairy cake recipe uses a little vanilla extract, just to give the sponge and buttercream a nice familiar flavour. You could of course mix things up by swapping it out for a nice zesty lemon extract.
Self-raising Flour
We don’t want our fairy cakes to come out flat, so the raising affects of self-raising flour takes care of that. No other baking powder required either – these are only little cakes and don’t need any more assistance to rise to the occaision.
Icing Sugar
These fairy cakes are finished with a very simple buttercream, made of just icing sugar, butter/margarine and little bit of vanilla. You can of course add some food colouring too, should you wish!
INGREDIENTS
For the Cakes
- 125 g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
- 125 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Free-range Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 125 g Self-raising Flour
For Decorating
- 100 g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
- 100 Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 12 Wafer Daisies
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cakes
- Preheat your oven to 180°c (160°c for fan assisted ovens or Gas Mark 4) and line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light & fluffy.
- Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, ensuring the first is well combined before adding the second. Once both eggs are combined, add the vanilla extract.
- Sift the flour to the mixture and fold in gently until you have a smooth batter.
- Spoon the batter evenly between your cases. Bake for around 15 minutes in your pre-heated oven, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Once cool enough to touch, move your fairy cakes to a wire rack to cool whilst you prepare your buttercream.
For Decorating
- In a large bowl, mix the butter, icing sugar & vanilla extract until smooth, fluffy and light in colour. If your buttercream is a little hard, you can add a splash of milk to thin it out slightly.
- Using a palette knife, spread a little buttercream on top of your now-cool fairy cakes & top with a Wafer Daisy.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won't always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
5 responses
These look so perfect for Spring Amy, and I love how you’ve presented them in your images. #BakeoftheWeek
Angela x
They are just so gorgeous. Delightful! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Oh wow, how utterly dreamy! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
During Covid 19 lockdown, i have found your recipes and every single one has been a success, found my love of baking again after 33 years. So far ive done, coffee kisses, custard creams, syrup cake, lemon drizzle cake, sultana loaf. Looking forward to doing gjnger cake but struggling to get treacle at the moment. Thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful recipes.
Made this recipe to make valentines cakes for my boyfriend. The sponge turned out absolutely perfect. The taste was so buttery just delicious
I doubled up on the butter icing and added a small amount of gel pink food colouring and added Valentines decorations on the top unboxed them off I wish I could send a picture as they’ve looked like I bought them from shop thank you so much for posting this recipe. I can’t wait to try more.