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

FAQs

What does Mary Berry use instead of butter? ›

For those who struggle to get butter to optimum baking consistency, Mary recommends using baking spread instead. When making a Victoria sponge, she simply beats together her baking spread (straight from the fridge), sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

They are half the size with a lot less decoration, just as cute, and it is safe to say, it is the sponge that is the star, not the 'frosting'. Fairy cakes are perfect for parties, and are easy to make. Just keep the sponge nice and light, and the decoration simple – they never fail to make people smile.

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.

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.

A butterfly cake is a variant of cupcake, also called fairy cake for its fairy-like "wings". The top of the cake is separated and split in half. A filling (e.g. icing or jam) is placed into the hole. The two halves are placed onto the filling to resemble wings.

1. Too much liquid: I usually make 23cm diameter chiffon cakes and for a cake that size, a cup of milk does sound like too much liquid. Even if you take care not to overmix the flour, adding too much liquid might just cause more gluten formation which resulted in the rubbery texture.

These delicious treats go by this name because of their size, which is small enough for a fairy to eat. However, a version of “butterfly cakes” is a design that has wings on top of the cupcakes. Similar to a butterfly or a fairy's wings!

A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim's urine, mix it with rye meal and ashes and bake it into a cake.

Why is it called Princess cake? ›

The cake was originally called grön tårta (green cake), but was given the name prinsesstårta or "princess cake" because the Swedish princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake.

Fairy cakes are not, as their name might imply, themed cakes designed and decorated to the liking of fantasy and sci-fi fans. They are, simply stated, smaller versions of cupcakes. They're widely popular in the UK, and tend not to pile on the icing in the same way that American bakers do with cupcakes.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet.

Tip: Don't Add Too Much Baking Powder/Soda

These rising agents create a chemical reaction which causes the cake to rise faster and fall flat, making them dense and eggy-tasting. The same could happen if you don't add enough baking powder, as the cake might not rise enough, leading to that eggy taste.

This happens generally when the temp. is set a little too high or the batter is liquidy. Basically what happens is that the outer crust gets baked faster and the center part of the cake is yet not cooked completely, hence it expands, even after the outer crust has set in.

Ghee. While not necessarily healthier than regular butter, ghee (clarified butter) has grown in popularity as an alternative, which makes intuitive sense because it offers a deep buttery taste and texture.

Loved for its ease of spreading and scooping, margarine has long been a choice ingredient for bakers as its soft texture makes it light work to whip up into buttercream frosting or to cream into sugar for a sponge cake. Whereas butter is an animal fat, margarine is made using vegetable oils but it may contain milk.

Replacing Butter with Oil

Depending on the type of oil, it can add complex flavor and welcome moisture to your baked goods. A good rule of thumb is to replace about 3/4 of the butter in a recipe with olive, canola, or vegetable oil. (If the recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use ¾ cup oil.)