Children's Fairy Cakes

Kids just love making these, ok so they might cough and sneeze all over them but it's the process that's important - not the outcome! Decorating fairy cakes is a really fun activity for kids and if you're lucky they might save one for you. This recipe for fairy cakes works every time and makes beautifully fluffy and vanillary fairy cakes. If you don't like cupcakes with masses of butter icing on this will be perfect for you too.

Red Nose Day Cupcakes

Red Velvet "Red Nose Day" Cupcakes for Comic Relief this Friday. Making red velvet cupcakes is like playing with a chemistry set, the fizzing reaction between the bicarbonate of soda and the vinegar is what makes these cakes so ridiculously fluffy. A cream cheese icing is the perfect partner, but not too much, the sponge is so delicate you don't want it to get squashed under the weight of the icing. Add a little decoration on top for fun too

Recipe coming soon...

Raspberry Leaf Tea Cupcakes

Another herbal tea cupcake to add to my collection. The sponge and the butter icing have infused raspberry leaf tea in the mixture which makes them taste so real and fragrant. I have also given these delightful cupcakes a secret raspberry jam filling, a pleasant surprise when you sink your teeth into it. These would have looked lovely finished off with a fresh raspberry and a mint leaf but frankly I couldn't be bothered to go to the shop so these ones just got a splodge of jam!

Peppermint Tea Cupcakes

This is probably my husbands favourite thing that I have baked...ever. He was just disappointed that they only came as bitesize morsels and not gigantic ones. But for quaintness and prettyness I think they work better in the minature form. It's amazing how pepperminty these are despite having absolutely no artificial peppermint flavour in them. They are surprisingly fragrant and have a subtle light green colour to them. I made these for a tea party and I am quite proud to share with you the recipe. What's great about this recipe is you can use any flavour tea you like. Why not try lemon & ginger or raspberry leaf tea?

Afternoon Tea Party

 

  

My good friend Amy is about to have a baby so I decided what more perfect way to celebrate the radiant glow of a mummy-to-be than with cake. I invited all of her friends over and we sat down to a glamorous afternoon tea with tiny triangular finger sandwiches, h'orderves, a good selection of pretty little cakes and not forgetting multiple cups of tea. I decorated the room with bunting using cutout shapes of baby gros hung up with little pegs and of course balloons. We finished with a game of baby bingo where the winner won the table arrangement.

The biggest successes in my opinion were the Peppermint Tea flavoured mini cupcakes and the Maple & Pecan cake, which I will post as separate recipes later. The rasberry cheesecake brownies were delightful too, courtesy of a fantastic Hummingbrid Bakery recipe. Lots more pictures of the tea party below.

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes

This is definitely the cupcake that you will want to shove in your face this Autumn. I made these for a charity cake-stall and they flew off the plate. They taste very autumnal with warm fudgy flavours and the dates in the sponge make it nice and moist, as well as surprisingly light and fluffy. You can top them with toffee pieces, fudge chunks, or even drizzle a toffee sauce over the top.