Showing posts with label Teatime Treats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teatime Treats. Show all posts
Cherry Topped Fairy Cakes. How can you not fall in love with something called a Fairy Cake? And when they are topped with glace cherries, so much the more!
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 glaze.
They are delightfully simple to make and are a great way to introduce children to the art of baking. Simple and very forgiving, and yes, very delicious!
You just have to love the names that they give to their baked goods in the UK. I used to love reading Enid Blyton stories when I was a child and a huge part of the appeal was the name of the food that the children ate in the books.
Cherry Cakes, Crumpets, lashings of Ginger Beer, boiled sweeties, etc. it all sounded very exotic to me. I wanted to experience all of it. Midnight feasts, picnics, tuck boxes and adventures. Sign me up!!
This fairy cake recipe that I am sharing with you today comes from the cookery book entitled Vintage Cakes, tremendously good cakes for sharing an giving, by Jane Brocket. There are over 90 recipes in the book and I have enjoyed every one that I have baked thus far.
These fairy cakes were deemed good enough to be portrayed on the cover. As you can see mine did not look all that different from the ones in the book! That's one of mine sitting there on the cover just above the plate of cakes, covering the Victoria Sponge.
The photographs in the book are beautiful and the recipes are really well written. They are written by weight, which is a much more accurate method of baking in my opinion. I started baking by weight when I first moved to the UK.
All recipes over there are done by weight. I had to sink or swim and so I bought a set of scales and just got stuck in to doing it. I still bake by weight, even though I am back in Canada. As I said, it is much more accurate. The potential for error is very small.
For instance cup sizes can vary greatly. Have you spooned your dry ingredients into the cup and leveled it off? Or have you scooped the cup down into them. Those two things alone can make a huge difference, whereas a gram is always a gram is a gram.
Not all cups are created equally either. I have found differences in different kinds of measuring cups, etc. So now I weigh everything. I have, however, provided cup measures for this recipe, as I do all my recipes. I try to make everything easier for all of my readers on both sides of the pond!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHERRY TOPPED FAIRY CAKES
Simple baking cupboard ingredients. Wherever possible I have endeavored to provide adequate substitutions for anything that might be difficult to find.
For the cakes:
- 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 finish:
- 1 cup (130g) icing sugar, sifted
- 2 1/2 TBS water (as needed)
- 6 glace cherries, washed, dried and halved
The original recipe called for caster sugar, which is a fine granulated sugar. You can use regular granulated sugar so long as it is not really coarse. If it is coarse, it will be helpful to blitz it for a few seconds in a food processor to make it finer.
Self rising flour is an ingredient that is very commonly asked for in British recipes. Self rising flour is a flour that has leavening already added to it.
It is very easy to make your own self rising flour. I make my own, 3 or 4 cups worth a a time. For every cup (140g) of flour, whisk in 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt. Easy peasy.
If you cannot get glace cherries (which are candied cherries) you can use maraschino cherries. Just rinse them and dry them really well before using.
HOW TO MAKE CHERRY TOPPED FAIRY CAKES
These are some of the easiest cakes to make. That is why they are such a good thing to make which children. Children love to bake and this is a very forgiving recipe.
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.
Once they are cold you can make the icing. Sift the sugar into a bowl. Whisk in the water 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 1/2 cherry.
Leave to set the icing before serving. Delicious! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
You can use orange juice or lemon juice instead of water when making the icing to add a different depth of flavor to it. You may need to use a bit more icing sugar in that case and it may tint the icing a tiny bit so that it isn't pure white.
Sugared flowers are really pretty on top of these and make them a beautiful addition for a tea party or a special picnic. Children love cake sprinkles and candies when used to decorate the cakes.
These are best eaten on the day, but will keep for a day or two in an airtight container in a dark cool place. They are great for children's parties, or picnics, and properly decorated, they are a beautiful addition to an afternoon tea party.
With their buttery fluffy sponge texture and that lovely hint of sweet to the tops, they are fabulous when served with hot cups of tea, or glasses of milk, or cold glasses of lemonade!
The next time you are invited to a get-together bake a plate of these and watch everyone's eyes light up when you bring them in. They delight children and adults alike!
Some other small traditional bakes here in The English Kitchen that you might enjoy are:
QUEEN CAKES - These lovely little cakes are traditionally baked for Mothering Sunday in March and were said to be a favorite of Queen Victoria. They are rich and buttery and studded with plenty of dried currants. You can also use chopped raisins if you can't get currants. A dusting of icing sugar is the only adornment needed.
SCOTTISH SNOWBALL CAKES - How can you not love something called a snowball cake! Its impossible. Two buttery small cakes, sandwiched together with some jam. The filled caked are then rolled in glace icing and coconut. They look like little snowballs. Delightfully delicious!
CUPCAKE MADELEINES - These English Madeleine cakes are very different from their French counterpart. These buttery little cupcakes are brushed with warm jam and rolled in coconut. A glace cherry half decorates the top of each. They are the perfect teatime treat!
Yield: 12 small cakes
Cherry Topped Fairy Cakes
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 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 finish:
- 1 cup (130g) icing sugar, sifted
- 2 1/2 TBS water (as needed)
- 6 glace cherries, washed, dried and halved
Instructions
- 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.
- Once they are cold you can make the icing. Sift the sugar into a bowl. Whisk in the water 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 1/2 cherry.
- Leave to set the icing before serving. Delicious!
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I am really excited to be able to bring this latest recipe to you today of a truly traditional Vintage Cake. Traditional Genoa Cake is a cake that I always enjoyed when I was living in the UK.
You could buy small bars of it at the grocery store and it was one of my favorites. It is a brilliant testimony to the love that the British have for fruited types of cakes. This is a cake that is filled with an abundance of sweet sultanas, glace cherries, almonds and mixed peel, but which is not as rich as a Christmas Cake.
I adapted the recipe from one that I found in the book Vintage Cakes by Jane Brocket. I have several of Jane's books. This is one of my favorites. It is stuffed full of lovely Vintage cake recipes, many of which could be considered heirloom recipes.
Her book The Gentle Art of Domesticity is another favorite of mine. As is another one called Cherry Cakes and Gingerbeer. I actually knit myself a tea cosy, black and colorful striped from the first book. It was one of my favorite things that I had in the UK. I should knit myself another one sometime.
I hold a great love and affection for British Cakes. They are much sturdier than North American Cakes. Most are meant to be enjoyed with a hot cup of tea. In fact dessert cakes there are usually called Gateaux.
Genoa cake is the country cousin to the sophisticated traditional fruit cake, which is what you will see in most homes for Christmas. A Genoa Cake is more of an every day cake. The kind of cake that is at home on any tea table. Sturdy, buttery, crumbly, and stuffed with an abundance of dried fruit.
One thing that I loved most about British Cakes, aside from their sturdiness, is that they are not usually as sweet as North American cakes. And this is not a really sweet cake for sure. It doesn't need to be as the abundance of fruit in it more than makes up for any lack of sweetness.
The recipe hails from Victorian times. It was then, and is now, light, soft, crumbly and has an abundant crunchy topping of sweet Demerara sugar. (I believe it is called Turbinado sugar in North America.) I can promise you it is totally delightfully moreish!!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TRADITIONAL GENOA CAKE
Most of the ingredients are pretty simple and ordinary. If you cannot get glace cherries, you can use maraschino cherries. Just make sure you dry them really well.
- 1 2/3 cup (250g) sultana raisins
- 3/4 cup (150g) glace cherries, washed and halved
- 1/2 cup (75g) mixed candied peel
- 1/3 cup (50g) flaked almonds
- the finely grated zest of one lemon
- 2 TBS rum or brandy (I used orange juice and some rum extract)
- 1 cup (230g) butter, softened
- 1 cup +3 TBS (230g) caster sugar
- 4 large free range eggs
- 2 cups (230g) self raising flour
- demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
I just use salted butter and indeed the recipe does not make any suggestion of using unsalted butter. I only have salted in the house. There is no addition of salt to the recipe either.
Caster sugar is a type of granulated sugar commonly used for baking in the UK. It is much finer than their regular granulated sugar. I find that the granulated sugar here in Canada at least is quite comparable and not as coarse as the British granulated sugar, so it works fine.
I use organic unrefined golden granulated sugar.
If you can get the candied peel that you dice yourself, so much the better, but here where I live I have to make do with the already chopped candied citrus peel. Every year I say I am going to make my own and every year I forget!
You can easily make your own self raising flour. For every cup (140g) of flour whisk it together with 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt. I usually make my own flour up 4 cups worth at a time and store it in my cupboard, ready to use for cakes such as this.
HOW TO MAKE GENOA CAKE
This is a really simple cake to make. It does require rather a long time to bake, so make sure you plan on baking it when you are going to be home for at least a few hours!
Preheat the oven to 325*F/160*C/gas mark 3. Butter an 8-inch round deep cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
Measure the fruits and almonds into a bowl. Add the grated lemon zest and the brandy or rum. Set aside to macerate.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold in the flour and the macerated fruits gently and thoroughly with a large metal spoon. Spoon into the prepared baking tin and level the surface off with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle the top generously with demerara sugar.
Bake for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours until the surface of the cake is golden brown and is slightly cracked. A skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake will come out clean.
Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool in the tin completely before turning out.
This is a lovely cake and one of my favorites. If you are expecting a light, fluffy, spongy North American style cake. This is NOT your cake. You will be disappointed.
But if you are like me and you really enjoy a buttery crumbly cake that goes well with a hot cuppa, then, like me, you best prepare yourself to fall in love. This cake is for YOU! I find it is one of those cakes that (properly stored) gets better and better with each day that passes!
If you love traditional tea time bakes then you are sure to love these delicious bakes:
LEMON & PISTACHIO CAKE - This is a lovely moist, and buttery cake, filled with crunchy pistachios and lemon, and topped with luscious candied lemon and lime slices and of course, some more crunchily addictive pistachio nuts.
MIDNIGHT FEAST WORTHY CHERRY CAKE - This cherry cake is well worthy of sharing. Cut into thick slices . . . buttery and moist, studded with plenty of glace cherries . . . and topped with a sweet drizzle glaze icing and the crunch of toasted flaked almonds.
Yield: 10
Traditional Genoa Cake
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 H & 45 MTotal time: 2 Hour
This is a traditional every day kind of a fruit cake. Studded with plenty of sultana raisins, glace cherries, mixed peel and almonds, there is also plenty of lush buttery batter between the fruits. Perfect served with a hot cup of tea.
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup (250g) sultana raisins
- 3/4 cup (150g) glace cherries, washed and halved
- 1/2 cup (75g) mixed candied peel
- 1/3 cup (50g) flaked almonds
- the finely grated zest of one lemon
- 2 TBS rum or brandy (I used orange juice and some rum extract)
- 1 cup (230g) butter, softened
- 1 cup +3 TBS (230g) caster sugar
- 4 large free range eggs
- 2 cups (230g) self raising flour
- demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325*F/160*C/gas mark 3. Butter an 8-inch round deep cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
- Measure the fruits and almonds into a bowl. Add the grated lemon zest and the brandy or rum. Set aside to macerate.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Fold in the flour and the macerated fruits gently and thoroughly with a large metal spoon. Spoon into the prepared baking tin and level the surface off with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle the top generously with demerara sugar.
- Bake for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours until the surface of the cake is golden brown and is slightly cracked. A skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake will come out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool in the tin completely before turning out.
Notes
Genoa Cake keeps well for 4 to 5 days if wrapped in grease-proof paper or foil and stored in an airtight container.
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I felt like having a scone today with my mid-morning break. Call it a late brunch as you will, as I didn't really have time for breakfast this morning and I was famished.
I didn't necessarily want to bake a full batch of scones, however. Especially where there is just me in the house.
Oh, I know you can always freeze the extras. I am a fan of fresh scones, but not so much frozen thawed out scones. You cannot beat fresh when it comes to baked goods.
I really love cream scones best of all. There is no having to cut or rub in butter. You just stir in the cream and go. Easy peasy.
I found a recipe for a small batch of cream scones on One Dish Kitchen. It looked quite reasonable and so I decided to adapt it with a few ideas of my own.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
First of all I don't think vanilla has a place in scones, not cream scones anyways, so I left that out completely. I also didn't feel like raisin/sultana scones.
I did, however, have a nice fresh bag of Zante currants and so I decided to go with them. I also decided that nothing goes better with currants than orange zest and so I added some freshly grated orange zest.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
I pat the dough into an even square and then trim the edges slightly with a sharp knife and then use that same sharp knife to cut the square into evenly sized scones. Press straight down and up for a nice straight rise and even rise. No slanted lop-sides.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE ORANGE AND CURRANT CREAM SCONES
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This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content, and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
I also think a good scone deserves a bit of a glaze, especially a cream scone. I added a brush of cream on top of the scones prior to baking and a tiny sprinkle of coarse Demerara sugar to give it just a bit of a sweet crust on top.
It really makes a nice finish. You could use milk as well, or even a beaten egg yolk, but I already had the cream out, so I went with the cream.
Yummy!
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Look at how nice and tall they rose. This is largely due to making sure my egg and my cream were both very cold, as well as cutting them straight.
Also, I like to handle the dough as little as possible. Over-handling the dough makes for a tough scone that doesn't rise as high.
Just stir your ingredients together to form a slightly tacky dough, dump onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 2 or 3 times and then lightly pat into your square shape.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
One thing I love about these is that you need only a very few ingredients.
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- ¼ cup (40g) dried currants
- more cream to brush on top
- Demerara (turbinado) sugar to sprinkle on top
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Orange zest really helps to bring out the sweetness of the dried currants. In the U.K. I had my own currant bush and would dry my own currants in my dehydrator.
Today I used Zante Currants that I had bought from Amazon. I buy a lot of my things like that on Amazon. The prices are usually quite reasonable in price, and they come right to my door.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE AND CURRANT CREAM SCONES
Remember a light touch is key to getting a perfect result!!
Preheat oven to 425* F /220* C/ gas mark 7. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper or use a silicone liner.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Stir in the dried currants.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream, and egg yolk. Pour into the flour mixture and stir together until combined. You should have a soft slightly tacky dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly a few times and then shape into a 4-inch square 1-inch thick.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Using a sharp knife, cut into 4 even squares and place on the baking sheet. Brush the tops lightly with cream and sprinkle with some demerara (turbinado) sugar.
Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Serve with butter, jam, and clotted cream, if you have it.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Boy oh boy do I ever miss clotted cream. I have never tried to make any here at home. When you have had the real thing, nothing else quite comes up to it.
These scones were lovely split and spread with some softened butter and strawberry jam. I was really pleased with the end result. Flaky and light. Little bits of sticky sweet currant, a slight hint of orange and then the butter and the jam.
Washed down with a hot cup of herbal tea. This was the perfect mid-morning treat! Simply lovely.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
If you are a fan of the scone, you are in for a real treat. I have loads of scone recipes here on The English Kitchen. Here are just a few of my favorites!
CARROT CAKE DROP SCONES - These are everything a great drop scone should be. Light and fluffy, no fuss, no muss. Simply mix and drop. Filled with sweet carrots, warm baking spices and sticky raisins. Sweetly glazed. These are a real favorite.
MAPLE GLAZED BLACK PEPPER SCONES - This is a small batch recipe which makes two very large scones. They have that sweet and savory thing going on. Short and buttery, studded with the heat of black pepper and sweetly glazed. Who know that maple and pepper got along so well! Simply fabulous.
Yield: 4
Small Batch Orange and Currant Cream Scones
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 14 MinTotal time: 24 Min
Tender and Flaky, these lovely scones are flavored with zingy orange zest and studded with plenty of dried currants.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- ¼ cup (40g) dried currants
- more cream to brush on top
- Demerara (turbinado) sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425* F /220* C/ gas mark 7. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper or use a silicone liner.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Stir in the dried currants.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream, and egg yolk. Pour into the flour mixture and stir together until combined. You should have a soft slightly tacky dough.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly a few times and then shape into a 4-inch square 1-inch thick.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into 4 even squares and place on the baking sheet.
- Brush the tops lightly with cream and sprinkle with some demerara (turbinado) sugar.
- Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Serve with butter, jam, and clotted cream, if you have it.
Notes
One of the secrets to flaky scones with a high rise is to make sure your cream and egg are cold. Also try not to handle the dough overly much as this will toughen the dough.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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