Strawberry Iced Fairy Cakes

  

 

I always like to bake something special for the weekend.  I like to relax a bit at the weekend and a cup of tea and a piece of cake or a small cake is just the ticket for me.  This weekend I decided to make Fairy Cakes. 

A fairy cake is the name given to small buttery cakes in the UK.  They are generally much smaller than a cup cake and rather than a buttercream icing will have a simple thick sugar and water or milk glaze.

 

Several weeks ago my sister and I had gone halves on a can of Freeze Dried Strawberries from Amazon. You can get them whole or already powdered. I bought them whole. Mine were organic as well. I didn't want to have berries which had been sprayed with pesticides.

They will come in handy for all sorts.  In cereals, puddings, cakes, etc. whole or pulverized.

I used them in the frosting for these delicious fairy cakes. I had thought that the icing would come out a pretty pink, but it was more a rusty red than pink.  Not quite the color I had imagined, but hot damn, the flavor was exceptional!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE STRAWBERRY ICED FAIRY CAKES

Admittedly the dehydrated strawberries are a bit of a specialty item.   You can get around that by simply using more strawberry extract and a quantity of red food coloring.

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tsp (125g) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup (125g) fine granulated sugar
• 2 large free range eggs
• 1 cup (125g) self raising flour
• few drops vanilla extract
• 1 -2 TBS milk

For the icing and finish:

• 1 cup (130g) icing sugar
• 1 - 2 TBS powdered freeze dried strawberries
• few drops strawberry extract
• 2 1/2 TBS milk or water (as needed)
• white sprinkles (optional)
• coarsely crushed freeze dried strawberries (optional)

I use regular salted butter and free range large eggs. In the U.K. the equivalent would be medium eggs. Our eggs are not quite as large here.

You can make your own self rising flour very easily.  For each cup of flour (140g), add 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt.  Whisk well together. I make mine up 3 to 4 cups worth at a time as I use it a lot. Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place.

 

Fine granulated sugar is what is known as castor sugar in the U.K. In North America you can use fruit sugar, or simply blitz regular granulated sugar for a few seconds in the food processor. Castor sugar has a much better propensity for melting into creamed mixtures.  In other words, it almost melts into them without leaving a granular texture.

I got my freeze dried strawberries from Amazon, but you can also buy them at Trader Joes I think. They have a beautiful concentrated strawberry flavor. Mine were organic unsweetened. That was important to me as then I knew they had not been sprayed with any pesticides.  I blitzed them to a powder in my spice/coffee grinder.

Icing sugar is what is also known as confectioner's sugar or powdered sugar.

You can very easily make your own self raising flour. I make mine up three to four cups at a time.

  

Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain all purpose flour (140g per cup.)

 

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY ICED FAIRY CAKES

Such a simple thing to make. Do use cupcake liners in the tin for each of removal. Freeze dried strawberries can be bought at Trader Joes' or via Amazon. I got the strawberry extract at my local health food store, but I am sure Bulk Barn also carries it.

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If it starts to curdle you can add a spoonful of the flour, but its not really necessary.

Stir in the flour, folding it in with a metal spoon until well combined. Stir in the vanilla and enough milk, as needed to give a soft dropping consistency.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling no more than 2/3 full.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top. The tops should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Remove to a wire rack and cool slightly before removing from the tin completely to finish cooling on the wire rack.

Once they are cold you can make the icing. Sift the sugar into a bowl along with the powdered strawberries. Whisk in the strawberry extract and then the milk, a bit at a time, until you have a smooth thick spreadable type of icing. Spread some on top of each fairy cake and top each with crumbled dried berries or white sprinkles as desired.  Leave to set the icing before serving. Delicious!

Note: to make the strawberry powder, blitz a quantity of the freeze dried berries in a spice grinder or food processor until you have a fine powder.

Adding some white non-pareils to the top in the style of a red toadstool would make these the perfect addition to an Alice In Wonderland Tea Party.  Or any children's party for that matter! So cute!

These were delicious and whilst the icing turned out to be a bit darker than I had anticipated, it was absolutely stinking fabulous!  Such a beautiful strawberry flavor. I had sent most of them over to my daughter and her husband, but once I tasted them I found myself wishing that I had kept a few more for myself! 

 

 

Here are a few other little cakes that would be quite at home on the Tea Table.  Very delicious, I promise!

ORANGE BLOSSOM CAKES - These are beautiful little cakes  . . .  dense and moist . . . filled with ground almonds and just a hint of orange. Dense buttery little cakes, flavored delicately with orange flower water, which is a concentrated flavoring made from orange blossoms. Frosted with a buttery orange blossom icing.  Delicious! 

QUEEN CAKES - Buttery little cakes composed of local fresh and honest ingredients . . . butter, sugar, flour and eggs,  and lots of sweet, little dried currants. The recipe for these delicious cakes dates back to Victorian times.  They are just plain lovely. They make a beautiful addition to any tea party. How can you not love a cake called a Queen Cake!

 

Yield: 12 cakes

Author: Marie Rayner

Strawberry Iced Fairy Cakes

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min

These are moist and delicious little cakes that are perfect for tea parties or children's parties. The strawberry icing is really delicious. If you don't have freeze dried strawberries, you can just leave them out and tint the icing pink. They are delicious any which way.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tsp (125g) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup (125g) fine granulated sugar
• 2 large free range eggs
• 1 cup (125g) self raising flour
• few drops vanilla extract
• 1 -2 TBS milk

For the icing and finish:

• 1 cup (130g) icing sugar
• 1 - 2 TBS powdered freeze dried strawberries
• few drops strawberry extract
• 2 1/2 TBS milk or water (as needed)
• white sprinkles (optional)
• coarsly crushed freeze dried strawberries (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If it starts to curdle you can add a spoonful of the flour, but its not really necessary.
3. Stir in the flour, folding it in with a metal spoon until well combined. Stir in the vanilla and enough milk, as needed to give a soft dropping consistency.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling no more than 2/3 full.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top. The tops should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
6. Remove to a wire rack and cool slightly before removing from the tin completely to finish cooling on the wire rack.
7. Once they are cold you can make the icing. Sift the sugar into a bowl along with the powdered strawberries. Whisk in the strawberry extract and then the milk, a bit at a time, until you have a smooth thick spreadable type of icing. Spread some on top of each fairy cake and top each with crumbled dried berries or white sprinkles as desired.
8. Leave to set the icing before serving. Delicious!

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