Fruit and Nut Cupcakes

Simple pleasures. This is what life should be about. Enjoying time with family and friends, letting your creativity flow, smiling, seeing the good in the bad and most of all enjoying yourself as you do so. When I think back to when I was a little girl, some of my happiest memories I have are baking with my gran; the oldest in the family teaching the youngest. These experiences are some which I will be forever grateful. A favourite recipe of mine was fairy cakes, the little golden brown cakes with a carved centre carefully filled with buttercream and fairy wings attached on top with a light dusting of icing sugar to finish them off.

fairy cake

Looking back now I realise how this recipe was...well…as easy as cake, but to the simplicity and innocence of my child mind, these were a creative work of art, a creative work of art that could take me all night. And yes, my gran would have all the patience of letting me sit and ensure all my fairy wings were symmetrical and perfectly placed in the exact centre of the cake…even if that did mean moving me and all the baking equipment into the living room and sitting me at a mini table so she didn’t have to miss her beloved night time soaps.

It wasn’t long after I had mastered my meticulous fairy cakes that they soon lost their wings. This was through the introduction to a new concoction altogether…ICING!  Runny, tasty, shiny icing. Any colour and every colour, you name it, we had fairy cakes topped in it. The simplicity of water and icing sugar mixed with a little flavouring and any colour taken from the rainbow, to me, we were on another level. Carefully drizzling my little paper encased cakes with all the vibrant colours blew my mind and not only did I get introduced to icing…I had my first experience with ‘hundreds and thousands’ little multi-coloured, sprinkley, sugar balls, that added the finishing touches to my tasty works of art.

tray of cakes for the bake sale

Gran, Myself + Mum at the bake sale

As I grew older I continued to bake with my gran, helping her make baked goods for church and social events. It was, and still is common for tray upon tray to leave her house, the majority lined with literally hundreds of 20p ‘fairy cakes’ all in different flavours and colours.  I was always warned however, that “these cakes are for elderly ladies, they won’t find razzmatazz colours appealing Polly”, the ironic thing being that she was of similar age and she loved bright colours, but the funny bit being that she didn’t view herself as being in this ‘elderly’ age bracket. It was years into our tradition that ‘cupcakes’ became the next big thing; the little mouthfuls of satisfaction that children have been taught for generations. These modern cakes with their beautiful and elegant designs that my gran and I quickly took great joy in imitating. I remember the first bakery I saw them in when I was with my gran, the minute I saw them I was waiting for it, waiting for the comment I knew she was going to make…then it came..”£1.50! £1.50 for a fairy cake!?! Oh they must be having a laugh”. It still puts a smile on my face whenever we see cupcakes together to this day as the prices are always analysed and to be honest…I do completely agree with her. After all, it’s only a bit of flour, sugar, butter and egg. Simple pleasures. Cupcake anyone?

Fruit and Nut Cupcakes

Makes 8

You will need;
75g unsalted butter, softened
75g light brown sugar
100g self-raising flour, sifted
2.5ml baking powder
2 eggs
2.5ml teaspoon almond extract
25g mixed nuts, chopped or blended
40g mixed dried fruit

And for the Buttercream;
225g unsalted butter, softened
375g icing sugar, sifted
7.5ml teaspoon vanilla extract
Food colouring
5ml hot water

Suggested Equipment;
scales
bun tray
paper cake cases
food processor (if nuts are not chopped)
sieve
electric whisk or wooden spoon
wire rack cooling tray
spatula
piping bag and nozzle

Method
1. Collect your ingredients, preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4 and line a bun tray with 6 paper cases of any colour or decoration you fancy.

collected ingredients

2. For the cake mixture put the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder and almond extract in a mixing bowl and whisk just until all the ingredients are incorporated and your mixture is light and creamy.

time to whisk

3.  At this point add in your chopped nuts (I usually do mine in a food processor so there not to big) as well as your dried fruit (currents work lovely but if you’re feeling experimental why not try some dried tropical fruits?) and stir your mixture until it is all evenly combined. Now divide the mixture evenly among the cake cases. (try not to get any on the cake tin or top of the cake cases as this will just burn).

after fruit and nuts are added

ready for the oven

4. Bake your cakes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch.

5. After removing them from the oven leave to cool until you are able to handle, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

6. For your buttercream put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or handheld electric whisk until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla extract.

icing ingredients

after whisking

7. Now add in any colours you may want then beat again until smooth. (if the mixture feels too thick add in a tiny amount of hot water approx. 5ml/1tsp)

I split up my icing to make two different colours

8. Once your cakes are completely cooled, transfer your buttercream into a piping bag and decorate as desired or just smear it on top of your cakes with a knife and enjoy.

Note: Cakes and buttercream are both suitable for freezing individually.