Christmas is really on its way and so I decided to get all festive and make some Christmas themed fairy cakes! I had some cute sugar cake decorations in my cupboard (I think from Lidyl but I bought them last year). The brand on them is “Cake Angels” for any of you eager beans. Anyway, they had wanted me to use them for quite some time (don’t ask use by dates) and I wanted to feel all excited about Christmas. So here are the scenic snowmen that were the outcome of this baking brainchild.
Recipe (makes 12 fairy cakes)
The main event
- 30g cocoa powder
- 100g plain flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 100g butter
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Buttercream
- 100g butter
- 200g icing sugar
- 50g dark chocolate
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tbsp milk
To decorate
Christmas sugar decorations – why not try making your own Christmas scene, or use mini snowmen like me. I used sugar snow, snowmen, red glitter sugar gems and silver ball decorations.
Method
- Heat the butter of the fairy cake ingredients in the microwave for 30 seconds just to soften it a little. Cream together with the caster sugar.
- Beat in 1 egg at a time (this prevents curdling).
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Fold this into the mix.
- Stir in the milk and vanilla essence.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 1800C for around 15 minutes. My oven is a bit enthusiastic and I find that even 15 minutes is too much. You just need to know your oven! Ovens can vary like people – as I have mentioned before.
- Leave the cakes to cool on a wired rack for about 30-45 mins.
- Meanwhile make the icing. Beat the butter with an electric whisk until it softens. Then whisk in the icing sugar for up to 5 minutes until well combined.
****Top tip! I sometime stir the icing sugar in with a spoon before I set the whisk off – this prevents me looking like I have swam in a bath of icing sugar! With the mixture stirred in, there is less icing mist to cover you and the entire room!
- Finally melt the chocolate in 30 second zaps in the microwave. Beat this in with the vanilla and milk, into the buttercream mixture.
- When the cakes are cool, spread the icing over them with the back of a palette knife.
- Decorate as you please! I think my snowmen are so cute. It is almost too sad to eat them.
I hope you have fun Christmas baking. I’d be interested to see what Christmas scenes you created! Feel free to post pictures in the comments below or email me about your ideas / creations for Christmas! I hope you are looking forward to Christmas like I am.
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