When I was a senior in high school, our school’s marching band was invited to march in the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was such a cool opportunity and we practiced and worked to prepare for months. I was so excited to go because I’d always wanted to travel to Europe. Our two week tour encompassed many interesting sights and experiences from Dublin to London to Paris.
For the most part, the scenery was more interesting to me than the food, at least until we got to Paris, but one exception was a little fairy cake that my sister Kleine found at a bakery in Dublin. The vanilla cake was wonderfully rich and tender and the icing was almost crisp on the exterior before it immediately melted into sweet oblivion. So simple and so good.
There are many foods to celebrate the fun holiday of St. Patrick’s Day, but I think I might keep this little cake in my repertoire.
Ingredients:
- 165 grams/1 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour (add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum if using gluten free flour blend)
- 165 grams/3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons milk
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Step 2: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the dough is homogenous. If using wheat flour, take care not to overmix.
Step 3: Divide the batter into the tins, about 2 Tablespoons per muffin cup. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the muffin tin about 5 minutes after you remove them from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
Glaze:
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon corn syrup
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- food coloring and sprinkles
Combine all of the ingredients except the food coloring and sprinkles and whisk until smooth. Tint the icing to your desired color. Spoon small amounts of icing on cooled cakes and decorate with the sprinkles. Allow the icing to set for a couple of minutes before enjoying the cakes.
