What Are Fairy Cakes?

What a fairy cake is completely depends on who you talk to.

Always make this condiment yourself; the end result tastes so much better than most store-bought versions.

Ingredients

There is only one ingredient in this recipe: heavy whipping cream.

Ever since I wrote about making homemade crumpets, I’ve been answering questions about tea and crumpets for friends, family, and readers.

A crumpet is a type of bread most closely related to the English muffin. Crumpets taste very similar to English muffins and even look like them. The difference is that crumpets are a bit lighter than English muffins. While they have a crust on the outside, their interiors are airy, spongy, and yeasty – and you don’t cut them open.

Americans are often at a loss about how to use clotted cream. My simple recipe for homemade clotted cream is one of the most beloved recipes on this site, but those with no British connections often wonder what to do with it.

Clotted cream is a scrumptious cross between butter and whipped cream. It’s easy to make, but, of course, you can purchase a jar [paid link] of it if you prefer!

I originally baked Shrewsbury biscuits in preparation for the Downton Abbey 4th season premiere in the U.S. I was looking for an interesting British dessert recipe and this one fit the bill. I also created sticky toffee pudding cupcakes for the occasion.

My recipe for Shrewsbury biscuits is an adaptation of a recipe from the captivating site, The Cookbook of Unknown Ladies, which explores recipes from a book of the same name; that book is “a manuscript recipe book in the collections of Westminster City Archives. The recipes, recorded in several different hands, span 150 years of British cookery, providing a fascinating insight into culinary craft of the Georgian and Regency periods.” I also used a post on Shrewsbury biscuits from Mouthful of Paradise as inspiration.

I first discovered sticky toffee pudding many moons ago on a questionable date (the kind where you can’t tell if you’re on a date or not). My “date” insisted that I try the sticky toffee pudding at The Schlafly Tap Room, claiming that it was the very best dessert in St. Louis. The “date” ended up being a great friend, but the sticky toffee pudding became a lifelong love. At The Schlafly Tap Room, the menu description simply states that it’s a “very moist dense cake.” When sticky toffee pudding is served at The Schlafly Tap Room, it’s in a lake of the saucy goodness. It takes all possible self-control to save any for others at the table.

For my sticky toffee pudding cupcakes, I used Schlafly’s recipe and adapted it to cupcake form. I cut a hole in each cupcake and filled it with the caramel sauce, then topped each cupcake with whipped cream and more caramel.

In this post, we’ll explore how to make them, how to eat them, and how they are different from English muffins.

Crumpets are most often found in the United Kingdom.