Fairy Cupcakes
Here is a recipe for these super cute and impressive cupcakes - described by a friend of mine as - "I've supposedly had the best cupcakes in the world from a cupcake shop in Scotland but your's are better". It's just a simple vanilla cupcake, I added a little lemon curd in the middle after it was cooked and then topped with a vanilla buttercream and some edible flowers to make it look super cute. Check out the recipe:
For the cupcakes:
125 g butter
125 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
125 g self raising flour
a few tablespoons of milk
This recipe is super simple. Beat your butter and sugar until light, add the eggs and vanilla and mix again. Once combined add the flour and mix. Slowly add milk until the cakes are at the right consistency. I used mini cupcake tins and this recipe made almost 30. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Lemon curd:
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup caster sugar
60 g butter
2 tsp lemon zest
100 ml lemon juice
Lemon curd is something that seems very impressive to me but is actually really simple to make. First whisk egg yolks and sugar until combined. Pour into a saucepan with other ingredients. Stir constantly until bubbles begin to form. Pour into sterilised jar (I just boil the kettle or you can put them in the oven if they are oven safe). Voila! You're done!
Buttercream: To be honest I've never even thought about using a recipe for butter cream, I just put a few tablespoons of butter in the kitchen aid and wizz it up, then add sugar until it looks like I've got enough to cover the cake and a splash of milk to loose it up a little.
Assembly: I used an apple corer to put a little hole in the centre of each cake. I then piped lemon curd until it was level with the top. I placed all my buttercream in a piping bag and just snipped off the end and didn't bother with a nozzle. The I topped the cakes with a few edible flowers (I got these from Harris Farm but I'm sure you could get them from other greengrocers or cake decorating shops).
Enjoy your fairy cakes! So cute!
