Getting Baked with Tracy: Fairy Cupcakes

There are a few things a girl can't deny - chocolates, lacy underwear, shoes, lipgloss, a diamond ring, sunglasses and cupcakes {or any sort of pastry, baked goody or delicious food}! Am I right? Of course I am. And this week I bring you the first installment of a new series that will make you lick your lips, grab an apron and be a domestic goddess. 

{Who am I kidding, I'll never bake, ha} And that is exactly the reason why my friend Tracy

has offered to share her amazing talents and recipes on SFL.

I bring you, ladies and all you still-hesitant-to-bake-girls, 'Getting Baked with Tracy'.

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    Light Fairy Cupcakes by Tracy Hancock

   My first baking memory is rolling sticky ginger biscuit dough into balls in my Ouma’s kitchen with my

   cousins and the smell of the freshly baked biscuits filling her house. After that my school holidays were 

   filled with baking recipes my Ouma pulled out of her Huisgenoot magazines. So, when I headed to high

   school and Home Economics was a subject I didn’t think twice. This easy cupcake recipe, courtesy of my

   Home Economics’ teacher, produces light, cute treats that are great for a tea party with the girls or any 

   light hearted event.

      

        Light Fairy Cupcakes

       {roughly makes 12}

       Batter

       (500 ml) 250 ml cake flour

       (2 ml) 1 ml salt

       (12.5 ml) 7 ml baking powder

       (150 g) 75 g soft baking margarine or butter (salted butter is fine)

       (200 ml) 100 ml sugar

       (2) 1 large egg

       (+/- 50 ml) +/- 25 ml milk

       (2 ml) 1 ml vanilla essence

       {the measurements in brackets are if you would like to double the recipe}

        Icing
        450 g icing sugar

        250 g soft baking margarine

        2 ml vanilla essence

        2 ml almond essence

        

For the cupcake batter: Preheat oven to 220̊C. Sieve flour, salt and baking powder into a medium bowl. Soften margarine/butter with a wooden spoon in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar to margarine/butter one teaspoonful at a time, beating well after each addition using an electric beater. The mixture should be light and crumb-like.  Beat the egg lightly with a fork. Add it to the mixture using the 

 same method when incorporating the sugar. The mixture should be creamy and a lighter shade.  

 Fold in half of the dry ingredients and a little milk. Be gentle. Do not mix in the dry ingredients as this

 will remove the air that you have worked into the mixture.  Fold in the rest of the dry and ingredients     

 and milk. Add vanilla essence. The mixture must be a soft, dropping consistency. If it seems too dry, 

 add a drop of milk. Fill the paper cups with a about a dessertspoonful of the mixture. Bake at once for 

10 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and decorate as desired. 

 For the icing: Cream the margarine against the sides of a large mixing bowl using the back of a wooden

 spoon. Add essences and beat, using an electric beater, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift icing sugar

 and add icing sugar 1/3 at a time, mixing well after every addition. Add some milk to soften, if needed.

 Add desired colouring. Be careful not too add too much colouring; a little goes a long way. Decorate 

with vermicelli or sprinkles; there are a lot of fun options available

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Enjoy! Send us some recipes you would love us to try!

*All images and recipes by Tracy Hancock. Please give credit where credit is due.