Chai Spiced Fairy Cakes

Chai spiced fairy cakes with toffee drizzle
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Recipe courtesy of RIPE: Thought for Food by Angela Redfern & The Ripe Deli Team, Beatnik Publishing, RRP $60.00, https://beatnikpublishing.com

Makes 12 fairy cakes | NF, VEGETARIAN

There is something so delightful about a fairy cake. These lightly spiced little mouthfuls of cuteness are perfect for a birthday party, or just a fun thing to make with the kids.

TIP: This recipe is very adaptable, try replacing some of the spices with cocoa powder for a chocolate chai version or you could add a spoonful of the toffee sauce into the mix and make them caramel fairy cakes.

Chai spiced fairy cakes with toffee drizzleIngredients

FAIRY CAKES

  • 175g BUTTER, softened
  • 1⁄2 cup (80g) soft BROWN SUGAR
  • 1/3 cup (80g) CASTER SUGAR
  • 3 EGGS, lightly whisked together
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp (175g) SELF RAISING FLOUR
  • 1 tsp each of GROUND CINNAMON, GROUND CARDAMOM and GROUND GINGER
  • 1⁄4 cup (60ml) CREAM
  • 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

TOFFEE DRIZZLE

  • 1⁄2 cup (80g) soft BROWN SUGAR
  • 40g BUTTER, diced
  • 1⁄2 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
  • 3⁄4 cup (185ml) CREAM
  • A pinch of SALT

SPICED CREAM

  • 1 1⁄2 cups (375ml) CREAM
  • 1/3 cup (50g) ICING SUGAR
  • A pinch each of GROUND CINNAMON, GROUND CARDAMOM and GROUND GINGER
  • 1 1⁄2 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C fan bake. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cases.

To prepare the toffee sauce: place all the ingredients into a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and turned a nice deep caramel colour. Remove from the heat and pour into a clean sterile jar and set aside to cool. Once cool, store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

To make the fairy cakes: into a food processor bowl place the softened butter, brown sugar and caster sugar. Blend together until light and creamy. Add the eggs and blend well, scraping down the inside of the bowl as needed. Add the flour and spices and with the motor running, pour in the cream and vanilla and blend together lightly until just combined.

Evenly spoon the mixture into the paper cases, filling them 2⁄3 full. Place in the middle tray of the oven and bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare the toffee sauce: place all the ingredients into a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and turned a nice deep caramel colour. Remove from the heat and pour into a clean sterile jar and set aside to cool. Once cool, store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

To prepare the spiced cream: in a mixing bowl, whip together the cream, icing sugar, spices and vanilla until soft peaks form. Place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes for the cream to firm up.

To assemble the fairy cakes: once the fairy cakes are cool, cut a circle out of the top of each cup cake and then cut the circle piece in half to make the wings. Top each fairy cake with some of the spiced cream and pop the wings into the cream, drizzle with a little Toffee Sauce and dust with icing sugar. Serve any leftover cream and toffee sauce on the side.