A light, airy, soft sponge that melts in your mouth. Made with whipped cream rather than butter or oil, these mini cakes are the perfect quick and delicious afternoon treats.
Although this recipe is not as simple as a traditional cake batter, it is by no means complicated, and all of these steps are completely worth it! As this recipe involves whipping cream, I would recommend using an electric mixer, just to make the whole process a lot quicker. If you do not have one of these, make sure that you use a handheld balloon whisk to help you to whip the cream. You want to whip it, on its own, until it can just about hold its own shape. Be careful not to overmix the cream as you will more than likely have to start this step again.
Whipped Cream
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the vanilla paste, you can use a fork for this step. With the whisk on a low and slow setting, gently pour in the eggs, mixing them in until they are fully incorporated. One of the things that I was worried about at this step was adding in extra liquid to the whipped cream, or adding extra mixing time. But everything worked out perfectly, so don’t worry, you’re doing the right thing!
Repeat this process with the sugar. Weigh it out in a separate bowl, and gently add it to the whipped cream mixture. You can do this in stages, adding a tablespoon at a time. Or, you can add it in a low stream continuously. Once it’s all been added to the mixture, give a quick blend on a higher setting, roughly 10 seconds.
Whipped Cream
Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold in the flour/salt. Stop when the flour is just incorporated. The batter may still look lumpy at this point, but do not be tempted to overmix. This is completely normal and the texture that you want at this point. Start to transfer to your pre prepared tins. I prefer to make these as little handheld buns, so chose to grease a cupcake tin and pour the batter straight in there. However, if you’d rather, you can use cases or grease a different shape/sized tin. This batter size makes 6 cupcakes, so be aware when choosing your tin size.
These bake for 16-20 minutes and come out golden brown and delicious. Leave in the tin to cool for 3-5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. For a finishing touch, I love to sprinkle these with a little dusting of icing sugar.
Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for roughly 3 days. But best eaten fresh on the same day as baking!
Happy Baking!
Ingredients
- 90 grams Self Raising Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 115 grams Whipping Cream
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
- 75g Castor Sugar
- Unsalted Butter - for greasing
- Icing Sugar - for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180*c/350*f/Gas Mark 4/160*c Fan Oven.
- Grease a cupcake tin with unsalted butter and set aside.
- Place the whipping cream into a bowl and using an electric mixer, whip the cream on a low setting until it can just about hold its own shape. Be careful not to overmix the cream as you may have to start this step again.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the vanilla paste, you can use a fork for this step.
- With the whisk on a low and slow setting, gently pour in the eggs, mixing them in until they are fully incorporated. One of the things that I was worried about at this step was adding in extra liquid to the whipped cream, or adding extra mixing time. But everything worked out perfectly, so don't worry, you're doing the right thing!
- Repeat this process with the sugar. Weigh it out in a separate bowl, and gently add it to the whipped cream mixture. You can do this is stages, adding a tablespoon at a time. Or, you can add it in a low stream continuously. Once it's all been added to the mixture, give a quick blend on a higher setting, roughly 10 seconds.
- Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold in the flour/salt. Stop when the flour is just incorporated. The batter may still look lumpy at this point, but do not be tempted to overmix. This is completely normal and the texture that you want at this point.
- Start to transfer to your pre prepared tins. I prefer to make these as little handheld buns, so chose to grease a cupcake tin and place the batter straight in there.
- Place in the oven for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. You can tell these are done when they gently spring back when lightly touched in the middle. You can also insert a sharp knife or cake skewer to test. If it comes out clean then the cake is cooked.
- Leave in the tin to cool for 3-5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
- For a finishing touch, I love to sprinkle these with a little dusting of icing sugar.
Notes
Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for roughly 3 days. But best eaten fresh on the same day as baking!
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