Mary Berry’s Fairy Cakes: Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my fairy cakes not fluffy? ›

Why are my fairy cakes not rising? This could be down to a lack of raising agent - or even old self-raising flour where the raising agent has become less effective.

What is the difference between a fairy cake and a cupcake? Cupcakes are bigger than fairy cakes and use a generous amount of frosting on top. In comparison, fairy cakes are often drizzled with icing rather than piled high with the buttercream or cream cheese frostings that American-style cupcakes are famous for.

To make the chocolate icing melt the butter and pour it into a bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir in the icing sugar a little at a time to make a glossy and spreadable. If the icing is too thick, gradually add the milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

You are almost certainly either overbeating the eggs, or knocking the air out of the mix when you fold the flour in. Over mixing cake batter can result in a heavy, closed rubbery texture.

A cupcake (AmE), fairy cake (BrE), or bun (IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.

Usually, a large, white tiered cake, decorated mostly in white frosting, is called the bride's cake, and a second flavor choice is called the "groom's cake". This tradition was brought over from England by early American colonists, who considered the white-iced bride's cake too light for men's tastes.

If you use a cup rather than a scale there's a good chance you're using too much flour: up to 20% too much, if you use the measuring cup as a scoop then tamp the flour down. Any baked good — especially cake —with too much flour will be dry, hard, crumbly …

Flour is perhaps the most important ingredient in a cake mix, as it creates the basic structure of the entire cake. A major component of flour is gluten, which is a protein that provides a way for the cake to bind to itself. The gluten creates a web that traps and seals air bubbles into the cake mix.

Are cupcakes better with milk or water? ›

Use milk instead of water

Most box cake recipes will tell you to add water to the mix. Instead, try adding milk using the same proportions. This will make the cake richer and creamier because it ups the fat content. You can even use buttermilk here for a pleasant tang.

“I no longer prepare a Victoria sandwich with the traditional creaming and folding methods, as [an] all-in-one method gives excellent results every time,” she said. For those who struggle to get butter to optimum baking consistency, Mary recommends using baking spread instead.

To make the ganache icing, measure the cream into a saucepan and heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until melted, then set aside in a cool place to thicken to a spreadable consistency. Brush the top and sides of the cake with the warmed apricot jam, then spread the ganache over.

The cake can be frozen (iced or un-iced) for up to 1 month. Store in a round freezer-proof container about 2.5cm (1in) bigger than the diameter of the cake. Sit the cake on the inside of the lid and place the container over the top. Seal, label and freeze.

We don't want our fairy cakes to come out flat, so the raising affects of self-raising flour takes care of that. No other baking powder required either – these are only little cakes and don't need any more assistance to rise to the occaision.

Overmixing ingredients can create a dense batter that doesn't get that same airy rise. Mismeasured baking powder (too much or too little) may also give you a flat cake. Make sure you have just the right amount of this leavening agent to give your cake the right lift.

My cake is very dense.

This could be because a/ the cake mixture hasn't had enough air beaten into it, b/ the eggs were added too quickly and curdled or c/ there's not enough raising agent.