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Saturday, October 4

Easiest: Fairy Cake Baking with 2 year old Boys

Baking fairy cakes is fairly simple all around, but did you know that there was a sure fire way to get hits, quickly, almost mess free and mostly done by a 2 year old boy?

It's a rainy day here in London, and after a morning clean and a matinee movie, the boys are in need of something else to do.

Last week we had stuffed a months worth of cakes into our bodies with the excuse of the MacMillan Coffee morning, raising money and awareness for cancer research.  
Which is what probably inspired the boys to cry 'Cakes!' when asked what they'd like to do.  

I looked around at my freshly cleaned kitchen and sighed.  'Okay'  I had asked. 'but no icing'.  Rainy days and excessive sugar are a super no at my house!!

The simplest and cleanest way to make cakes?  In the blender, you literally shove everything in it, whizz, then away!  Apart from the measuring scales and a spoon or two, that is about as messy as it gets and the boys can clean up easily.  Results Now for that cup of tea!

Have a peek at how it all went....



A well loved and seriously used baking book!




There was enough mixture left over for a loaf tin sized cake....  look out for our chocolate loaf recipe coming soon!



Didn't they do well?!!


I used Nigella Lawsons' Victoria Sponge recipe from her book - "How to be a domestic Goddess" and tweaked it, adding 1/2 teaspoon of Caribbean mixed essence and 1 teaspoon of Caribbean mixed spice.

Recipe:
200 grams self-raising flour

25g cornflour

225 grams caster sugar

225 grams soft unsalted butter

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 tablespoons milk

My added extras... 
1/2 teaspoon of Caribbean mixed essence 
1 teaspoon of Caribbean mixed spice


Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/400ºF and line the tin with the muffin cases.

Put all the ingredients except for the milk in the processor and then blitz till smooth.
Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. 

Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cup cakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack.

When cool.  Eat. Or, you can ice using my go to icing recipe by Hummingbird Bakery which is just sweet enough not to be too sweet.



Ingredients for a vanilla frosting:

250g icing sugar, sifted

80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

25ml whole milk

a couple of drops of vanilla extract

Add drops of food colouring as required

Method

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.

Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.

Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

I use my Vitamix on a low setting to 7 speed, a quick whizz on high setting then back to low. About 30 secs does it.

Educational Tips:  We do like to add an educational element to all of our experiences.  

Talk about weight, count, look at numbers and discuss time.  


Enjoy!

Tomboy -x-

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