Fairy Cakes
Makes 12
- 7 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs self-rising flour, sifted
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pink food-coloring gel
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until pale and creamy.
- With the machine still running, add the beaten eggs, little by little, until fully combined.
- Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour in two batches, beating until just combined after each addition.
- Spoon equal amounts into the paper liners.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden, springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and place the tin on a wire rack and let the cakes cool completely.
- Beat the butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until pale and creamy.
- Transfer half the butter cream to a bowl.
- Color this half to your chosen shade of pink.
- Spoon the plain buttercream into the piping bag, keeping it to one side.
- Spoon the pink buttercream into the other side, trying not to let the buttercream mix too much.
- Starting at the center of each cupcake, pipe a spiral of buttercream working outward, to cover the whole cake, whipping the piping bag away quickly at the end of the spiral to avoid a tail of frosting.
Cakes
Decoration
The Great British Baking Show: The Big Book of Amazing Cakes. Page 34. Clarkson Potter, 2019.