Description
Delightfully elegant Glamorous Fairy Cakes, featuring soft, fluffy sponge cupcakes topped with smooth pastel icing and decorated with edible flowers. Perfect for special occasions or teatime treats, these charming cakes combine classic vanilla sponge with a choice of custard or cornflour for a tender crumb, finished with delicate icing in pink, green, and white hues.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Fairy Cakes
- 140g butter, very well softened
- 140g golden caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 100g self-raising flour
- 25g custard powder or cornflour
For the Icing and Decoration
- 600g icing sugar, sifted
- 6 tbsp water, or half water and half lemon juice, strained
- Edible green and pink food colourings
- Crystallised violets
- Crystallised roses or rose petals
- Edible wafer flowers
Instructions
- Prepare the Oven and Cases: Preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C fan or gas mark 5). Arrange paper cases evenly into bun tins to keep the cakes shaped during baking.
- Make the Cake Batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, golden caster sugar, and eggs. Beat vigorously for about 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Gently fold in the self-raising flour and custard powder or cornflour until just combined, ensuring not to overmix.
- Fill and Bake: Spoon the batter into the paper cases, filling them about halfway to allow room for rising. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the cakes have risen nicely and turned a golden color. Test with a skewer; it should come out clean when inserted.
- Cool the Cakes: Remove the cakes from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely before icing to avoid the icing melting.
- Prepare the Icing: Mix the sifted icing sugar with the water (or half water and half lemon juice) until smooth and spreadable. Reserve one-third of the icing plain for decorating some cupcakes white.
- Color the Icing: Divide the remaining icing into two equal portions. Tint one pale green and the other pale pink using edible food colorings, blending thoroughly to achieve soft pastel hues.
- Decorate the Cakes: Spread the plain white icing over eight of the cooled cupcakes. Use the green-tinted icing for another portion, and the pink-tinted icing for the rest. Decorate the white iced cakes with crystallised violets, the pink iced cakes with crystallised roses or rose petals, and the green iced cakes with edible wafer flowers, creating a beautiful, delicate finish.
- Set and Store: Allow the icing to set completely at room temperature. Store the iced cupcakes in an airtight container in a cool place; they will keep fresh for 2-3 days.
Notes
- For best results, ensure butter is very soft before mixing to create a smooth batter.
- You can substitute custard powder with cornflour for a slightly different texture, keeping it tender but cakey.
- When tinting icing, add food coloring gradually to achieve the perfect pastel shade.
- Store the fairy cakes in an airtight container in a cool place but avoid refrigeration to prevent the icing from sweating.
- These cakes are ideal for parties, afternoon tea, or special celebrations with their elegant floral decorations.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: fairy cakes, cupcakes, vanilla sponge, edible flowers, pastel icing, teatime treats, floral decorations
