ugar Topped Cakes

The cakes Mr. Tumnas serves Lucy as the prime culmination of their first tea are a finer, sweeter type of cake than the hefty wheaten and oaten cakes eaten at High Banquets and Suppers. This is a true tea cake, soft, light, topped with sugar and beautiful to behold. These lovely confections are sometimes called Faery Cakes and are often made by Faeries in Narnia and elsewhere. They are quick and easy to make and are the delight of children and the young at heart. The tops can be decorated with a lot of personal artistry or one can buy sugar roses and other decorations instead of making them. They can also be decorated with berries, fruit slices and just about anything else that might taste good that your imagination can bloom up.

½ cup butter or margarine softened
8 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-rising cake flour
½ teaspoon vanilla 4 Tablespoons milk

Cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and eggs. Fold in the flour carefully and add milk to correct to a soft consistency. Spoon mixture into 12 paper-filled cupcake cups, filling the cups equally. Bake at 400° 15-20 minutes or until the Cakes golden on top. Remove the cakes to a wire rack to cool.

Icing can be home made, made from a package or store bought. The following recipe for butter cream frosting works well.
1 1/3 cups butter
4 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar sifted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Start with a large uncolored batch and remove a few spoonfuls at a time to a small bowl and add a little food coloring. This gives you many different colors to play with. Frost the tops, decorate, invite a faun to tea and enjoy!