Fairy cakes are what English people eat instead of cupcakes, but the same sort of thing- a light fluffy cake, usually vanilla but sometimes they come with raisins and then they are called queen cakes instead. The main difference between these and cupcakes is the thin layer of glace icing (plain powdered sugar mixed with a bit of water) instead of the big buttery topping you find on cupcakes. Rather than the cake being a carrier for the frosting, we prefer the topping just to lightly decorate and accentuate the cake. Also we like them to look home-made and all different and even a bit wonky, as we consider those qualities more charming than uniform perfection (it’s a British thing).

The cakes above went to the farmer’s market this week and all sold, so sadly there were none left for my tea, but another bunch of lovely pink and green holiday-looking ones is landing on our Live Oak Market stand as I type*. We’ll be bringing in new ones most days- plenty of our other stuff is good for a week or more but these are best enjoyed asap, if not sooner.

*our home on Ben White and Manchaca, click for the Google map.

Over the next few weeks, we will be making some exciting traditional seasonal goodies for sale on our stall at Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market. It’s a little early yet, but I could wait no longer before making these favourite winter treats, mince pies- all lovely and fresh (not like the weeks-old boxed pies) made with our very own mincemeat (none of that shop-bought stuff).

Here’s what’s in the filling: apples, currants, raisins, cherries, almonds, lemon rind & juice, spices, hard cider and brandy (all the alcohol is cooked away, so they won’t make you drunk).

If you are thinking they don’t look very beefy, that’s because mince pies and the mincemeat inside them have not actually contained any meat for a few hundred years. In Olde Englande in the days before refrigerators, people used to mix their meat with sugar, alcohol and dried fruit to make it last longer, and I am guessing also to disguise the taste of the ageing meat, because that doesn’t sound too good to me. These days the only meat product left in mincemeat is suet, which is a bit like lard, but these ones do not contain any suet because it isn’t available in the US and actually fruit filling doesn’t really need added fat to taste delicious.

Also when the original meaty version was first invented, it was made in the shape of a manger with a baby inside, for obvious Christian seasonal reasons. I love that- a tasty little baby Jesus pie! Cute