Lemon butterfly cakes

Inspired by Mary Berry on the Saturday Kitchen I got out my pinny and made a batch of these delicate little cakes. Filled with lemon curd and topped with butter cream these really do melt in your mouth.

Ingredients for 12 fairy cakes

• 100g stork margarine
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Lemoncurd

Ingredients for the butter icing

• 50g butter (softened)
• 100g icing sugar, sifted
• plus extra icing sugar to finish

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)
• Line your bun tin with paper cases
• Add all your cake ingredients (not the Lemon Curd) into a mixing bowl and beat for around 2 or 3 minutes.
• Spoon the mixture into each paper case and then feel free to lick the spoon.
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cakes are well-risen and golden. Lift the cakes from the tin and let them cool on a wire rack.
• When the cakes have cooled, cut a disk from each cake but make sure you leave a little rim around each one. Cut each disk in half as these will form the wings.
• Spoon a dollop of lemon curd into each fairy cake. 
• To make the butter icing, mix up the butter and the icing sugar until smooth and well blended. I needed a few drops of milk to my mix to get the right consistency.
• Dollop a teaspoon (or swirl with a piping bag if you are feeling really professional) of butter icing over the lemon curd.
• Finally, place your half sliced cake discs over the top to resemble wings. 

Prepare it ahead

These cakes will keep in a cake tin for around 3 days. They can also be frozen (1 month).