Bite sized lemon iced fairy cakes. These look so pretty on the table at a party. The lemon flavours make a nice change when you want to change things up from vanilla or have run out of vanilla extract!

My mum taught me how to make these and it’s such a simple recipe to remember as it’s 125g of nearly all the ingredients. My mum is an amazing baker and I remember thinking how does she remember this in her head and she would just reel off the ingredients and measurements but trust me when you make them often enough it will become second nature. These are lovely to make with little ones, I’ve been making these with my girls since forever……

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter

125g self raising flour

125g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a little extra for squeezing into the icing.

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 table spoon of milk

For the icing

200g icing sugar, a little iced water – enough to make a smooth paste, a squeeze of lemon juice.

Method

Pre heat oven to 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cake papers.

Place the unsalted butter and caster sugar in your mixing bowl and cream together either by hand or with an electric mixer. Gradually add the eggs and fold in the flour, baking powder and then the lemon juice, zest and milk.

Once you have a lovely creamy consistency divide between your cake cases and bake in the centre of the oven for approx 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them until they look lightly golden. Whatever you do never open the oven to soon when you are baking or the cakes will all sink to be as flat as pancakes which is not the desired look you are going for here!

For the icing

While the cakes are cooling on a wire rack. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl along with a few drops of cold water and a squeeze or two of lemon to make a smooth paste thick enough to cover the cakes without being see through. Once they are cool, ice them. I ice my cakes on a piece of tin foil as if it makes a mess I can just scrunch up the tin foil and throw it away.

I like to add a tiny flower wafer to pretty them up a little bit.

Fact: Lemons have so many health benefits including vitamin c, potassium and vitamin B6 to name but a few. Lemons also stimulate energy and are thought to help enhance your mood. I buy so many lemons each week and can never have enough.