As mentioned in my previous post, I had a very busy day baking cakes for a photo shoot - eeeek! I wanted to make something that would be quick to make and it also needed to be fun and colourful for the photos. Fairy cakes are simplicity itself. Also I knew my little boy would love them; what child wouldn't!
I placed some colourful paper cases into a bun tin and rejoiced at not having to grease a tin or cut greaseproof paper to size! This meant that I could quickly move on to the fun part of making the cakes. As it was an all in one recipe, I just had to add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix. The oven had been on all day, so the butter I had left next to it was so soft I could barely pick the packet up! I added the sugar on top of the VERY soft butter and cracked in a couple of eggs. I have to say that, after a day of baking, I had become a dab hand at cracking eggs. I admit that I got a bit carried away at this point and attempted it one handed; the attempt failed. I painstakingly picked the pieces of shell from the mixture and washed my eggy hands. I don't think I'll be attempting the one handed trick again anytime soon! With both of my hands I carefully added in the flour and sprinkled in a little baking powder; now to beat it all together. Mary says to beat for two to three minutes, which felt like a long time! By the time the mixture was ready to go into the paper cases it was silky smooth. I placed generous dollops of mixture into each case and then placed the tray of cakes into the oven. The cakes would only take about 15 minutes to cook, so I couldn't very easily go off and start anything else. I found myself crouched down watching the little cakes rise in the oven. I think insanity was setting in, especially as I quite enjoyed watching the cakes lift up from the depths of their paper cases!!!
Finally my cakes were ready! Straight away I picked the cakes out of the bun tin and placed them on a wire rack to cool. It was hot work and I burnt one or two fingers in the process – but better that than soggy cakes!
The icing was as quick and easy to make as the cakes. I needed a vast amount of icing sugar; it seemed such a lot just for few cakes. I used a little warm water to bring it together to form a thick glacé icing. Even though I spooned a good quantity of icing over each cold cake, I still had a lot left over. It was a bit too sweet even for me to lick out the bowl! I opened up a packet of dolly mixtures and snaffled a few before placing three on top of each cake. I was pleased with my fairy cakes as they looked much the same as the photograph in the Baking Bible.
I packed up the fairy cakes and all of the other cakes and biscuits I'd made for the photo shoot. I was so worried that they would get damaged in transport. The drive to the stately home was only half an hour according to the sat-nav. Unfortunately we had the wrong postcode and were taken to a farm track on the wrong side of the house. We had to go around the nearby village, along narrow little lanes. It wasn't helped by the torrential rain and then snow!! After several phone calls we discovered both the stylist and photographer were having exactly the same trouble. We ended up traveling up a very bumpy farm track. There were shrieks and giggles from our son and cries of “Oh no, my cakes” from me! Nearly an hour later we eventually drove up to the very impressive house.
The stylist must have used at least an inch of concealer to hide the bags under my eyes!! I was given a dress and pinny to change into. Even Neil was kitted out in a smart outfit; he usually lives in jeans so wasn't too sure! The fantastically lovely photographer turned up an hour later. It transpired that, not only had he been lost, but he'd also had to be rescued by the AA after getting stuck in the mud! Once the cheerful photographer had arrived the photos could commence. His happy banter immediately put me at ease and all of my nerves disappeared. It was fantastic that Neil and Isaac played a bit part in the photographs; it will be so lovely to have some family shots.
The little fairy cakes went down well and the stylist and photographer took some home for their children. They tasted so lovely, light and sweet. As Mary says, they are ideal for a child's party. They can be whipped up in mere minutes and devoured just as quickly!
We left with big smiles on our tired faces and, once home, we collapsed and didn't move for the rest of the evening. It was a fantastic and exciting day and certainly unforgettable!
Fun and very tasty!
