Caiku

Bloomin' 'eck, dear reader. The house stinks of baking. Phyllis and I have been proper busy birds. My beau's made some hot cross buns and I've knocked up a dozen chocolate Easter fairy cakes. The Americans call them cup cakes, which is sweet.

There's lots for me to do today. We're preparing lunch for four (Ian's Father Aunty June will be here shortly), there's High Society to see at the Edinburgh Playhouse and there's a wee game of Haiku Saturday to play. You can play, too, if you like, my little maid. Just click here. Go on. You know you want to. Exciting! Nice to be interactive.

You might also want to make the fairy cakes, my bird. If so, you will need:

• 125g soft butter (slightly salted is best)
  
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 2 large organic eggs
• 50g self raising flour
• 75g cocoa
• 10g cornflour
• 2 teaspoons baking poweder
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (NOT essence)
• 2 tablespoons amaretto
• A few drops of almond flavouring
  
• 200ml double cream
• 250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  

Bung everything except the chocolate, cream and maple syrup into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and pale.



Evenly dispense the cake batter into twelve large paper cases.



Bake at 180ºc for fifteen to twenty minutes, though fifteen should be enough. Leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the topping.



Pop the plain chocolate, cream and maple syrup into a saucepan. Melt, under a low light, slowly. Next, beat the topping until it's thick and glossy.



Dollop this thick chocolatey and fudged mass on top of your wee cakes, but only once the cakes are quite cold.



Leave your Easter cakes somewhere cool, though preferably nowhere as cold as the fridge, until the topping begins to set. At this point, a decorative addition is order.



As they're Easter cakes, I've used those widely available mini-eggs with a crispy sugar shell. Seasonal adjustments are to be expected; a ghoulish jelly sweet for Hallowe'en, a Love Heart sweet for Saint Valentine's day, or even a candle for a birthday... One might imagine these cakes would be fabulously chic with no decoration. This could well be true, though using the words fairy, cake and chic in the same sentence really makes no sense. Fairy cakes should be cutesy, cheap and covered in artificial colouring.