Elfin Cakes

This month's letter for AlphaBakes challenge is E. Wanted to make something different, and in an old 1960 cookery book belonging to my Mum [called 'Cakes, Breads and Gateaux'], I found a recipe for Elfin Cakes. Why they're called this I don't know, and they don't explain; there's no photo either. Anyway, I'm back to baking with my grandson, so we decided to make some.

The recipe makes 12 fairy cakes, not cupcakes. It's a  fairy cake with a difference.

Preheat oven 180C/gas 4 and grease a 12 hole tartlet tin lightly, or use paper cake cases - not muffin cases, they're too big.

75g butter
75g caster sugar
2 eggs

75g sr flour

25g rice flour
50g chopped mixed peel

Icing
75g icing sugar
1 tbspn water
glace cherries to decorate - if you want

Cream butter and sugar till white and creamy.

Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs, and beat the yolks into the mixture.

Fold in the flours and stir in the chopped peel.
Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold them into the mixture.
Spoon into the cake cases or the tin and bake for 15-20 mins till risen and a light golden colour.

Mix the icing sugar with the water to a stiffish consistency, and spread over the cakes.

My grandson wanted to use 'sprinkles' on them, so that's what we did!

I used home made peel, just orange, as I'd made some recently. I didn't really like it in the cakes, but Tom thought they tasted great, and took the rest home for his brothers. Poor Grandad didn't even get to try one!

As we'd used orange peel, we mixed the icing sugar with some orange juice to add to the orange flavour. Separating the egg yolks and whites didn't seem to do anything to the cakes' texture. They tasted like little sponge cakes with added peel! Not going to be added to my keeper folder, but Tom liked them, as did his brothers.

AlphaBakes is a monthly baking challenge hosted alternately by Ros of The More than Occasional Baker blog and Caroline of Caroline Makes blog. Ros is the host for February. Have a look here for more information.