Bero Fairy Cake Recipes

EASY FAIRY CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line 2 x 12-hole fairy cake tins with paper cases.
• Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract.
• Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon. Add a little milk until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency and spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full.
• Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
• For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture. Stir in the food colouring.
• To ice the fairy cakes, drizzle the icing over the cakes, sprinkle with decorations and set aside until the icing hardens.

GORGEOUS LITTLE BUTTERFLY CAKES OR FAIRY CAKES!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190° C or 375°F.
• Have ready between 12 -18 paper cases depending on size. Small pie or cake tins will take standard paper cases. These cakes SHOULD be small and dainty and NOT standard "muffin" size. (However, you can make them bigger and adjust the cooking time by 5 minutes.).
• Cream butter or margarine with sugar until light, fluffy and pale in colour. By hand is best but a hand whisk is fine too!
• Beat the eggs and add them bit by bit with spoons of sifted flour. Bit by bit ensures the mixture does not curdle.
• Gently fold in an any flour left over when the egg is used up.
• Add the vanilla or any other flavourings desired - lemon and orange is good too! If the mixture is a little too stiff add a little milk or juice of orange/lemon.
• Half fill the paper cases with the mixture and bake for about 15 minutes until risen and firm but NOT too dark.
• Cool cakes and then cut a slice from the top of each cake and cut this in half.
• Place a little butter icing of your choice on the top of each cake and arrange the "wings" around the icing - round edge facing the outside and the cut edge to the inside and angled towards the bottom - like BUTTERFLY or FAIRY wings! Dust with extra icing sugar and watch them fly away!
• If you want to add colouring to the vanilla cakes, pink is really good with pink icing too! I once sprinkled on crystallised rose petals for a Christening Party & I also used rose essence in the butter icing, very sophisticated!
• N.B. You can multiply this recipe very easily, e.g: 6 ozs of butter, flour & sugar to 3 eggs; 8 ozs of butter, flour and sugar to 4 eggs & so on! It also makes VERY good big Victoria Sponge cakes - just slice and fill with a filling of your choice -- lemon curd, butter icing, fresh whipped cream & jam -- the list is endless!

ICED FAIRY CAKES

Steps:

• Ask a grown-up helper to turn the oven on to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put a paper case in hole of a 12-hole bun tin.
• Put the sugar and butter (it must be soft or you won't be able to mix it properly) in a bowl and mix it together. Sift in the flour.
• Break the eggs into a separate bowl (spoon out any bits of shell that fall in) and add them to the bowl with the vanilla. Mix everything together.
• Divide between the cases using a spoon, scraping it off with a knife. Ask a grown-up helper to put the tray in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Mix the butter and icing sugar to make a creamy icing. Add colouring, if you like. Push an icing nozzle into an icing bag, then scoop in the icing.
• Let the cakes cool completely in the tray. Pipe icing onto each cake and decorate with marshmallows or sprinkles, or whatever you like.

CHOCOLATE FAIRY CAKES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 12-hole bun tin with paper cases. Put the sugar and butter in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
• Add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder to the bowl and mix to make a smooth batter. Fold the milk through to loosen. Divide the mixture between the cases using a spoon. Bake for 20 mins, or until a cocktail stick poked into the centre of one of the cakes in the middle row comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
• While the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl for 5-10 mins, until you have a smooth, creamy consistency. Add the milk to loosen if needed. Pipe or spread on top of the cooled cupcakes.