Red Nose Day Fairy Cakes

Have you been watching the Great British Bake Off for Comic Relief? I have and while some of it's been comedy gold (Dame Edna Everage needing secateurs to remove a cookie tin, anyone?) I definitely think the proper version is the best. However, I also love Comic Relief and watch it (or the highlights) every year as most of the special sketches are great. They raise so much money for good causes and this year I've supported them by buying red noses, nail stickers and funny mugs as well as a cupcake cases kit. A kit which got me thinking - how could I incorporate my love of baking into a blog post which would help people raise money for Comic Relief? I'm not doing a bake sale, quite simply because I'm running a pop up shop to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust (Monday 16th March 2015 at the UoM Student Union - come along and buy some amazing (and cheap) clothes) and I have a couple of 2,000 word essays to write before the Easter hols, but you might be holding a bake sale and so I'm here to help.

These cupcakes have a hidden surprise in them - crack one open and you'll reveal a red nose! I made my cakes using a Red Velvet batter (I left out the colouring and added it only to the last bit of batter reserved for the centres) but this recipe is going to be just a regular mix to make it easier for children to get involved. If you want to make Red Velvet then by all means do - this is my recipe - just make sure you leave the colouring 'til last! I have a silicone tray of tiny spheres (bought in the hope that I'd make chocolates) which cost a few pounds off Amazon. If you don't have that then use a few cupcake cases to bake the coloured batter and then whilst they're hot tear them up and mould the cake into balls - you'll need to work quickly!

As I feel I'm about to fall asleep at my desk I'm going to love you and leave you until the morning when I shall finish and post this. Otherwise the rest of it might look something like this ygtfgxbhjfgsilubjknmd"SLVmSP"DVMDFSPKBjmdfgoiajhbnd and we don't want that!

Morning! It's bright and early (ok, 10:30) but I'm fortified with pancakes and back to give you the recipe for Red Nose Day fairy cakes. Thinking about this recipe again - I'm going to make it easier for you by suggesting you do half red noses in a white surround and half white in a red surround - it'll save guesstimating the batter.

Red Nose Day Fairy Cakes

Oven at 170˚ fan

makes 18 or so small fairy cakes

Ingredients

170g butter at room temperature (stick it in the microwave for 5 seconds)

170g caster sugar

170g self raising flour

3 large eggs

½tsp vanilla extract

Splash of milk

Red food colouring

Method

Mix the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until soft and fluffy - it'll go paler in colour.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated, if they curdle and start to look like scrambled eggs then just add a tablespoon of the flour whilst you beat it and that should bring it back to normal.

Stir in the rest of the flour until you have a smooth mix.

Pour in a tiny amount of milk, just to stop the cupcakes from becoming dry as they cook.

Separate the mixture into two bowls and add red food colouring to one, stirring as you go, until it turns a bright red colour.

In 3 cupcake cases spoon the white mixture to two thirds of the way up the case and repeat in 3 more cases with the red mix.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until a skewer comes out clean but the cupcakes are still soft.

While those cupcakes are baking, use the rest of the mixes to fill the other cupcake cases two thirds of the way up again.

When the first cupcakes come out of the oven you need to work quickly and with clean hands. Work with only one cupcake at a time and try to keep the others warm by leaving them in the tray. Quarter the cupcake and roll each quarter into a rough sphere before pushing it into the centre of a cupcake case filled with batter. Make sure you fill them with the opposite coloured nose!

Repeat until you've torn up all the cooked fairy cakes and filled all the uncooked ones.

Using a teaspoon carefully scoop the mixture up and over the noses so they're covered and then place into the over to cook for 12 minutes or so. When you test them make sure to test the side and not the centre!

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on wire racks then top with icing - my favourite is this cream cheese one but you could use water icing, fondant or buttercream (maybe chocolate would go well) or you could leave them un-iced. The choice is up to you.

I hope you like these easy but cute cupcakes and if you do make them then please do send me photos of them via the comments section below.