What Is A Fairy Cake?

We are often asked: What is a fairy cake? Is it really something to do with fairies?

We explore the world of fairy cakes and share the best recipe!

Fairy Cakes

Accessories for your Fairy Garden!

Are you building a Fairy Garden? This door, windows and lantern would look super cute - CLICK HERE for more information and to order on Amazon.

What Is A Fairy Cake?

A fairy cake is a traditional small British cake made with a simple Victoria sponge mixture. They can be topped with a drizzle of icing and sometimes sprinkles too. They are very popular to make with children - we recently made fairy cakes with our granddaughter Lara in the UK.

Here is 'Pops' mixing the mixture for the cakes - our daughter's whisk is missing a whisk stick!! We told her to head to Amazon and buy one here!

Lara and Pops baking fairy cakes

Sometimes the tops of a fairy cake are cut off and some buttercream, or jam and cream, placed on the cake. The top is then cut in two and placed on either side of the buttercream. This makes them look like the wings of a fairy or a butterfly. You can also sprinkle icing sugar over the top - see image below.

This type of fairy cake can also be called a butterfly cake. Mogsy remembers making these when she was young!

A Butterfly/Fairy Wings Cake

Why is it called a fairy cake?

You may think fairy cakes look like fairies. However these little cakes go by this name because of their size - they are small enough for a fairy to eat!

Difference between a Fairy Cake and a Cupcake

A Cupcake and a Fairy Cake

The first difference is the size - the fairy cake is smaller than a cupcake. In the UK, the Tesco supermarket has 2 cake size options - 60mm and 95mm.

Secondly, the fairy cake sponge is lighter and less dense than a traditional cupcake.

The third difference is the toppings. Cupcakes are popular in America and are piled high with buttercream or cream cheese frostings. Fairy cakes, as mentioned before, are often drizzled with icing and topped with sprinkles.

While fairy cakes are a plain sponge mixture, cupcakes can be flavoured, for example, with caramel, and can also have a filling.

History of the Fairy Cake

The fairy cake is thought to have originated in Britain around the same time as the American cupcake in the late 1700s.

In America these cakes were described as cakes to be baked in small cups. They can now be baked using muffin tins but before these tins were available, bakers used ramekins or individual pottery cups to bake their little cakes.

Best Fairy Cake Recipe

fairy cakes with sprinkles

This recipe is from the BBC Food website.

It's perfect for baking with children. You can decorate with a little drizzle of icing and plenty of sprinkles, or you can go for the full butterfly/fairy wing effect.

Ingredients

Makes 12-16 cakes

110g/4oz butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
110g/4oz caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g/4oz self-raising flour
1–2 tbsp milk

Note: If you are lactose intolerant, you can add an extra egg instead of the milk.

For the icing

300g/10½oz icing sugar
2–3 tbsp water
2–3 drops food colouring if desired
hundreds and thousands, or other sprinkles

Butterfly cakes with sprinkles

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line 2 x 12-hole fairy cake tins with 12–16 paper cases (depending on big you want your fairy cakes).
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon. Add a little milk until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency (when a spoonful of mixture drops easily into the bowl when given a gentle shake) and spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full.
Bake in the oven for 8–10 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, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and gradually stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture (approximately 3 tablespoons). Stir in the food colouring.
To ice the fairy cakes, drizzle the icing over the cakes, sprinkle with decorations and set aside until the icing hardens.

Recipe Tips

Soften your butter first to make light, fluffy cakes.
Ideally eggs should be room temperature before using.
Use an electric hand mixer - you can find an excellent one here on Amazon.
If you want flat tops on your cakes, try lowering the oven temperature by 20C and bake them for a few minutes longer.
Once cooked the fairy cakes will keep for up to 3 days.

ENJOY!