Bake for victory!

First published in edition 205 of The Northumbrian, Apr/Mar 2025

May 8 is the 80th anniversary of VE Day, which means one thing ... CAKE!

Gingerbread Fairy Cakes with an Orange topping

Ingredients
140g unsalted butter
200g golden caster sugar
60g black treacle
60g golden syrup
2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
300g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 trsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
240ml milk, warmed
Orange buttercream:
110g unsalted butter
220g icing sugar
1 orange, juice only

Method
Preheat oven to 190C/Gas 5. Line a muffin tin with paper cake cases. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the treacle, syrup, eggs and egg yolks. Sift together the flour, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Add half the flour mix to the butter mix, then beat in half the warm milk. Add the rest of the flour mix and milk and beat together. Spoon into cases and bake for 20-25mins, until a toothpick comes out clean. While the cakes are cooling, whisk together the butter icing ingredients until smooth. To serve, pipe on top of each cake and add shop-bought toppers.

Lemon & Poppyseed Fairy Cakes

Ingredients
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
150g self-raising flour
2 lemons, zest only
1 tbsp poppy seeds
Syrup:
50g caster sugar
1 lemon, juice only
Lemon buttercream:
110g unsalted butter
220g icing sugar
1 lemon, juice only

Method
Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Line a muffin tin with fairy cake cases. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually whisk in the eggs. Sift the flour and fold in gently with the lemon zest and poppy seeds. Fill the cake cases ¾ full and bake for 20mins
or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Meanwhile, to make the syrup, whisk together the lemon juice and sugar. When the cakes come out of the oven, stab them all over with a skewer and pour a little syrup over. Leave to cool in the tin for 10mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whisk together the butter icing ingredients. To serve, pipe on top of each cake and add shop-bought toppers.

Union Jack Lemon Cake

Ingredients
150g unsalted butter
250g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon, zest
4 eggs
300g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g soured cream
Lemon buttercream:
110g unsalted butter
220g icing sugar
1 lemon, juice only
To top:
150g strawberries, hulled and sliced
150g raspberries
200g blueberries

Method
Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease  and line a 20cm x 30cm cake tin. Beat together the butter, caster sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the soured cream and gently fold in. Spoon batter into the tin and bake for 22-25mins until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins and then pop onto a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, whisk together the buttercream ingredients until smooth. To serve, spread the buttercream evenly over the top of the cake and arrange the berries in a union jack design.