As promised, yesterday I baked. And out of all the recipes I could have chosen I probably chose the easiest… Sultana Fairy Cakes! Hey, sometimes you need to go back to basics to rediscover why you love what you love!
When I was younger I used to make these cakes with my mum. We used the worlds oldest handheld mixer and a massive white mixing bowl (she still has this bowl and its so much smaller than in my memories). The cakes always turned out lovely. They are what they are – simple, delicious, family cakes. The kind you bake and pop into a tin and give as a little after-dinner treat. The kind that fill your home with that happy, freshly baked smell and remind you of long summer holidays playing in paddling pools and watching Power Rangers (yes, my brother and I had a major Power Rangers phase and I’m not ashamed to admit it..)
The recipe was in Jo Wheatley’s book Home Baking. I did tell you I love GBBO didnt I… I’m not sure who is my favourite winner though, I love them all! I didnt have any sultanas so I substituted them for cranberries (cos I’m all sophisticated and stuff). It may have been a simple bake but they rose well, had evenly distributed fruit and tasted scrumptious – what more could I ask for?!
The recipe calls for creaming together the butter and sugar (actually it uses margarine but I’m definitely a butter kinda girl so I bit the bullet and went full fat), then add the eggs, then the flour and cranberries (I rolled these in flour to aid in the even distribution goal), combine well, dollop into cases and bake for 15-20 mins. I baked for 20 mins on 160 fan. Also I’m going to admit that when I put my eggs in my cake mix it looked gross. It curdled, as Mary Berry herself would say. But don’t worry, as soon as I added the flour it became cake-mixxy-delish all over again, phew!
These days I don’t do handheld, Kenwood Chef all the way!
Yes. I did lick the spoon(s) when I was finished…
After about 20 long minutes my little guys were out and ready to be munched. And I had fun! I’ll never claim to be the best baker there is – I’m not trained and can do what I do through practice and years of standing on a chair helping mum stir the mix. But as long as you’re having fun in the kitchen isn’t that all the matters?! Now I’m off to deliver these bad boys to someone elses kitchen before I eat anymore than the FOUR I’ve already devoured…
Happy Tuesday everyone! Remember, one more sleep til Bake Off!
Nic X
