strawberry jam-on-the-inside and white chocolate fairy cakes

… what a glorious weekend we’re having here in the countryside… the UK is finally swathed in summer and sunshine and everyone’s feeling the joy.  It’s as though the whole country is a sleeping cat who’s finally woken from that week-long sleep, stretched its back and leapt into the sunny morning.  Finally those chores can be done without a risk of getting soaked plus you know you always have Sunday to relax somewhere and soak up a few rays… wine corks are pulled, the sound f ice chinking in glasses can be heard up and down the land… the ubiquitous aroma of burning meat on charcoal is in the air and as it doesn’t get dark until 10pm those silly drunken walks back from the pub can take a detour and meander without the worry of fumbling for the keys in the dark. If ever there was a weekend to fully enjoy the weekend, then this is the weekend…

strawberry jam-on-the-inside and white chocolate fairy cakes
these little morsels of joy are what happen when you get pestered for something sweet even though you know you really shouldn’t.  I’m not a very prolific cupcake or fairy cake baker because quite frankly they’re a little dull and I don’t get the obsession with all those pounds of thick butter cream… plus i’m really rubbish at making icing look pretty so I tend to shy away.  However I happened to have a Martha Stewart recipe book dedicated to cupcakes sitting on my kitchen table the other day and I sometimes get into that very practical mood where only following a recipe will do… and as us bakers know, when it comes to cakes of any kind you have to follow the recipe.  If the recipe calls for 4 large eggs then use 4 large eggs… don’t substitute sugar for caster sugar because that’s what you’ve got in the larder… so I made sure I had everything in and got to work…

… these little gems are ultra-sweet so I ignored the suggested topping of drizzled icing and went for a shimmy of icing sugar and a slice of strawberry… believe me this is all you’ll need…

this recipe makes 24 fairy cakes
200g sugar (I used golden sugar)
225g slightly salted butter – room temperature
4 large eggs – separated
75g white chocolate – melted
345g self raising flour
the finely grated set of one medium orange
a little milk if needed
strawberry jam

pre-heat the oven to 150C and line two 12 hole muffin tins or cupcake tins with paper cases

place the white chocolate in a bowl and gently melt in the microwave – set aside.

place the sugar, orange zest and butter into a large bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy… I used a hand-held electric mixer but a wooden spoon and some effort will work

scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and beat in the egg yolks one at a time until just combined

add the flour a third at a time a beat in… after each third add a little of the melted white chocolate to help slacken the mixture… you may even need to add a dash of milk each time – don’t over beat at this stage, just beat until the flour has gone

quickly clean off you whisks, place the egg whites into a clean bowl and beat them to a soft peak, then gently fold them into the batter

spoon 2 teaspoons worth of batter into each paper case then a dollop of jam which you can push down into the batter, followed by another teaspoon of batter on top

bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and risen then remove from the oven and let them cool entirely before dusting with icing sugar and topping with a strawberry slice

i’m linking these fairy cakes up to the tea time treats linky hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage which has the theme of cupcakes, fairy cakes and muffins

they’re also going over to the we should cocoa bloggers challenge… founded by Choclette from Tin and Thyme and this month hosted by Kerry from Kerry Cooks

and finally they’re being linked up with the treat petite challenge which has the theme Lets Get Fruity!… the challenge is hosted by Kat The Baking Explorer and Stuart the Cakeyboi

eat and of course enjoy!