What's Cooking
February’s Choice
A special treat for your Valentine
from Carol Browne
This delightful dessert is popular in Britain. We call them fairy cakes while my American cousins call them cupcakes. No matter which you say, I am confident you will love this vegan sweet. Add a little food colouring to the icing for a more festive appearance. Sprinkles or candied cake decorations are also a fun addition.
Fairy Cakes
6 tbsp. /90ml oil
1 cup /230ml water
½ cup /55g light brown or coconut sugar
1¼ cups /185g self-rising flour
1 heaped tsp. /5+ml baking powder
1 ½ oz. /45g cocoa or carob powder
Icing
½ cup /55g icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
vanilla essence (vanilla extract) to taste
¼ cup /55g margarine
Preheat oven to 350 F°/180C/gas 4.
Stir oil into water in a medium-size bowl. Beat in dry ingredients with a hand whisk. Roughly 2 mins.
Insert fairy cake (cupcake) papers into a muffin tin. Pour in batter about half way up the paper. Bake 15 mins.
Remove cakes from tin and allow to cool on a rack.
Cream filling ingredients together in a small bowl. Slather onto cakes after they have cooled.
You’re worked hard so pour a cup of tea and settle a fairy cake or two onto a plate then sit back. How about a peek at my fantasy while you enjoy a break?
Elgiva, a young elf banished from Elvendom, must seek shelter among the Saxons as her only hope of surviving the coming winter.
Godwin, a Briton enslaved by the Saxons, is a man ignorant of his own inheritance and the secret of power he possesses.
A mysterious enemy, who will stop at nothing to wield absolute power over Elvendom, is about to make his move.
When destiny throws Elgiva and Godwin together, they embark upon the quest for the legendary Lorestone, the only thing that can save Elvendom from the evil that threatens to destroy it.
There is help to be found along the way from a petulant pony and a timid elf boy but, as the strength of their adversary grows, can Elgiva’s friends help her to find the Lorestone before it falls into the wrong hands?
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Born in Stafford in the UK, Carol Browne was raised in Crewe, Cheshire, which she thinks of as her home town. Interested in reading and writing at an early age, Carol pursued her passions at Nottingham University and was awarded an honours degree in English Language and Literature. Now living and working in the Cambridgeshire countryside, Carol usually writes fiction but has also taken a plunge into non-fiction with Being Krystyna. This story of a Holocaust survivor has been well received.
Stay connected with Carol on her website and blog, Facebook, Twitter.
May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!
Sloane
