Fairy Cakes and White Elephants
~ In Praise of the Great British Summer Fête ~
Summer Fairy Cakes
with Lemon Curd Buttercream
Having lived and worked overseas for many years, I can confidently state that nobody does it better – the Great British Summer Fête. The village fête is usually set up on the village green or in a farmer’s field where there are numerous marquees and tents filled with warm ale, huge urns of hot tea, flapjacks, cakes of all shapes and sizes, jams and displays of fruit and vegetables; avid allotment gardeners huddle in small groups eyeing up the opposition’s marrows or tomatoes. Then there’s the White Elephant Stall ~ that traditional Bric-a-Brac stall where you gleefully empty all the junk from your attic, only to be drawn into to buying someone else’s unwanted items…….we’ve all been there!
There are vintage cars on display, dog shows, flower displays, coconut shies, tug of war teams, tombola stalls, the WI “Jam and Jerusalem” tent, plant stalls…………and isn’t it curious that the fête is nearly always in a muddy field where the previous inhabitants left their “calling cards” ~ I think the summer fête is brilliant, and we should all celebrate this unique event for all that is quirky and fun about Britain and being British!
And in all of this, the best stalls and tents for me were, and still are, the food stalls. The cream teas run by the vicar’s wife or Ladies’ Circle, the WI with their jams and cakes, the Brownie’s cakes and bakes stall, the local school’s tea and sweeties stall ~ you will never go hungry. I often end up making several trips back to the car with armfuls of wonderful home-made produce……a real home-baked treat for the tea-time table.
August is a wonderful time of the year for looking at what traditional cakes and bakes we can make; either to take to the local fête, a charity event or to eat at home, out on the lawn ~ sitting in an old deck chair with sound of bees buzzing and the distant drone of a neighbour’s lawnmower – you can’t beat it! So, this year ~ rain or shine, try to support your local summer fête or fair ~ bake some cakes for the charity stall and make sure you have a well stocked purse with you so you can buy some treats to take home too ~ little cakes are very saleable, such as these fairy cakes, easy to make and fun to decorate ~ these always fly of the table.
These fairy cakes really are delicious ~ as I still had some lemon curd left, I added a couple of spoons to the buttercream icing and what a delightful tangy topping it made……then I had fun with the hundreds and thousands (sprinkles) and also some little jellied sweets, that’s what baking is all about, fun and flavour. These can be made up in a trice and they travel well when packed into a tin…..
This recipe is a scaled down and basic Victoria Sandwich cake recipe, which I have posted before, and is a very versatile recipe for cakes of all shapes and sizes. I used summery coloured pastel hundreds and thousands and lemon fruit jellies to decorate as I mentioned before, but you can be as adventurous as you want here, the sky’s the limit!Printable recipe here
Summer Fairy Cakes
with Lemon Curd Buttercream
Recipe:
Recipe:
(Makes 12 small Fairy Cakes)
INGREDIENTS:
Cakes:
110g (4ozs) butter
110g (4ozs) caster sugar
2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
110g (4ozs) self raising flour
Buttercream:
75g (3ozs) softened butter
110g (4ozs) icing sugar
4 tablespoons lemon curd
Decoration:
hundreds and thousands (sprinkles)
lemon jellied sweets
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line 1 x 12-hole fairy cake tin with paper cases.
Whisk the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Carefully fold in the flour and beaten eggs.
Pour the mixture carefully into the paper cases then bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from the tin.
To make the buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar and the lemon curd then beat until creamy.
Once the cakes are cool, spread the buttercream icing on top of the cakes and then decorate with the hundreds and thousands and lemon jellies.
That’s all for today, I have some more baking recipes and notes to share with you this week, as well as some preserving treats in store too.
See you soon,
Karen
Those look delightful and I love the idea of the Summer Fête. That would make for a great weekend!
Hi, loving your blog – looking forward to trying a few new dishes. Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog.
Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger
Noeleen, many thanks! I love summer fêtes too ~ so disorganised and yet so much fun!
Liz ~ thanks for stopping by ~ it's mutual, as I have loved reading through your blog too!
Karen
I'm totally sold!!!
I'd love to be heading off to a fete this weekend – you have reminded me of the episode of "The Vicar of Dibbly" when they couldn't get a "celeb" to open it – so funny!!
Those fairy cakes look delicious.
As always they look delicious. So inviting.
You have to love summer fetes. They're the best. And you are right, nobody does them like the British!
Such a well written post. Growing up, I had something close during our 4-H fair, but not nearly the treats you talk about. Enjoyed the read!
Cute cute cakes..I know what you mean about sprinkles.
I will never buy another.
I am sure I have enough forever and a day:)
Brownieville Girl ~ I LOVE The Vicar of Dibley, and that is a favourite episode along with the Christmas dinner one too!
Paula G ~ thanks! XX
Marie ~ yes, we do do them well, if a little disorganised!!
Dave ~ thanks! I would love to hear about your fairs one day, maybe you will do a post?
Monique ~ many thanks, I have sprinkles coming out of my ears!
Thanks all.
Karen
beautiful cake looks delicious
regards Akheela
LOVELY to see you here Akheela, many thanks!