She Calls Them Butterfly Buns, I Call Them Faerie Cakes

Whatever you call them, these are adorable little cakes. I found this recipe on the Daily Mail, an online "newspaper" where I get my fill of world news and gossip. But one day they ran a nice story about Diane Halliday who, to help the family farm, began her baking business. She names her mother's recipes as the key to her success and included one for Butterfly Buns. I would say these are more like little pound cakes than buns so I changed the name to Faerie Cakes. Plus I like Faeries. Let me warn you that these cakes are incredibly rich and dense with the dab of raspberry jam lending wonderful flavor. There is no vanilla in the cake or icing which is fine with me, I am a sweet cream ice cream kind of gal. If you want flavoring, add it.


My boys wanted to call the raspberry jelly Faerie blood, but Daelyn and I corrected them letting them know that it was Faerie nectar. My boys thought that the cake was dry, but it is not so, they are just used to regular cupcakes and not pound cake. I think I have ruined them on too many cake mixes, shame on me!


Here is little Dae helping me put the heads on the wee Fae.


Faerie Cakes- by Diane Halliday
450g (1lb) margarine, I used butter
450g (1lb) sugar
8 eggs
675g (1½lb) cake flour- I used King Arthur's unbleached cake flour

For the butter icing- Double this or you will not have enough!
115g (4oz) softened butter
225g (8oz) sieved icing sugar
2 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Or 350 degrees!
Cream together the margarine and sugar. Whisk the eggs, then add to the mixture with the cake flour and beat well. Fill 24 cupcake liners with batter and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Once cooked allow to cool. (Do not over cook or the tops will be too crispy and will break easily.)

For the butter icing, mix all the ingredients together, adding more icing sugar if too wet. Cut a well out of the centre of each cake. Cut the lid in half to form butterfly wings, and keep to one side. Fill the well with a little jam and then piped butter icing. Top the cake with the butterfly wings placed at an angle in the icing, dust with icing sugar (faerie dust) and place a small piece of cherry on top. Makes 24 cakes.

I stored our Faerie Cakes in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Robin Sue

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Cannon Beach

The entire Himself Clan gathered together at Cannon Beach to celebrate Gramma and Grandpa Himself's 50th Wedding Anniversary. What memories we created and shared! Here is a brief photo album of our time together.

We wrote big love notes in the sand.



Let the children take pictures of us for a change.



Marvelled...



At...



God's Creation!



Invaded the beach.



Flew kites.



Built sandcastles.



Kissed.



Roasted marshmallows on the beach.



Acted Silly!




Celebrated their 50 Years Together!

Robin Sue

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Cashew Pâté a Vegetarian Pâté

And now for something completely different. I have held on to this recipe for years and years and it wasn't until about a few weeks ago that I thought of the perfect opportunity to try it out. The Oh! Nuts company shipped me a generous amount of nuts and dried fruits for me to try and spin out a few recipes. I can go through several pounds of pecans during Thanksgiving and Christmas which means I was very happy to find this company. Cashew Pâté is a vegetarian version of the famous liver pâté, so no livers were harmed in the making of this recipe. The cashews give a buttery, nutty, and sweet flavor to this spread AND I was able to eat more than just one bite, which is all about what I could handle with the real deal liver version.

Cashew Pâté
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) cashews
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 T. butter
3 T. heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese
kosher salt
ground black pepper

In a medium sized skillet, over medium heat, toast cashews being sure to shake the pan every minute until the nuts are golden and fragrant. Pour into a food processor. In the same skillet melt butter and add garlic, cooking it for about 30 seconds. Add to the nuts and process until smooth. Add cream and cream cheese and process more. Salt and pepper to taste and process one last time until the mixture is smooth. Line a small, one cup bowl with plastic wrap. Decorate with herbs if desired, I used 3 parsley leaves. Then press pâté over the leaves and seal with more plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours. Unmold and serve with sliced baguettes or crackers. Makes about one cup.

Oh! Nuts supplied me with one pound of cashews to make this recipe. Now you may think this is minor, but I was very pleased that the nuts and fruit come in hefty resealable bags. Verra nice indeed. Check out their website for all kinds of healthy treats and more guilty pleasures!

Robin Sue

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