Prep: 10min | Resting: 15min | Baking: 20min
Complexity: 1/5
ingredients:
(makes 15-20 fairy cakes)
60g butter
30g sugar
1 egg
60g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 tsp raspberry or strawberry jam
For the Swiss buttercream meringue frosting:
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white
50g butter, cubed
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Optional: sprinkles
method:
Frosting:
Wipe your hand whisk, electric whisk, and electric hand mixer (or standing mixer) utensils with lemon juice to ensure there is no grease. A single drop of grease or yolk will ensure the frosting never stiffens.
Bring a pot with a little water to a simmer, and place the egg white and caster sugar in a glass or metal bowl over it, like you do when melting chocolate. Use the hand whisk to mix constantly until the sugar dissolves, and the mix is less goopy and more like sirup, ca. 3 min.
Take the butter out of the fridge, and set aside.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and use the electric hand mixer to whip the syrup into a meringue with stiff peaks. It takes between 5-10min for such a small amount of frosting.
as you return to whisking the meringue.
Once stiff (in the bowl), switch to the electric hand mixer (if using a standing mixer, change from whisk to paddle attachment). Add the butter, one piece at a time.
Lastly add the salt and vanilla bean paste.
* If the buttercream becomes lumpy or curdled, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and mix constantly until it returns to a smooth and stiff mixture.
Set buttercream frosting in the fridge until the fairy cakes have cooled from the oven.
Fairy cakes:
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Cream butter with sugar. Use a mixer to combine the egg with the creamed butter and sugar, then add the flour, baking powder, and jam of choice.
Line a fairy cake tray with paper liners. Empty cake mix into them (ca. 1 -1.5 tsp per fairy cake), and bake 18-20 min.
Remove tray from the oven and cool fairy cakes on a wire rack.
Pipe the frosting onto each fairy cake, and add sprinkles if using.