Sunshine and Afternoon Tea

Hurrah! It would seem summer has finally arrived! Cambridge is a wonderful place to be in the sunshine. We had guests last weekend, so I made afternoon tea treats. I made scones and fairy cakes and served up with smoked salmon and ham sandwiches and a big pot of tea.

I whipped up my fairy cakes using the recipe for the sponge I made for the mini bakewells the other week. Ground almonds are my favourite ingredient at the moment – they make everything light and moist with just a lovely little hint of almondy goodness.

Almondy Fairy Cakes (makes 6)

50g unsalted butter

50g caster sugar

1 egg

30g ground almonds

30g self raising flour

100g icing sugar

glace cherries/sprinkles to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 180°C or 160° for fan ovens
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and ground almonds, then stir in the flour.
3. Spoon into 6 pretty fairy cases of your choice and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 12-16 minutes.
4. Add a splash of water to the icing sugar to make a thick icing. Spoon onto the cooled cakes and top with a glace cherry or some sprinkles.

The recipe I use for scones is this one here on BBC Good Food. You may have noticed I use this site a lot - I love it, there are so many great recipes and ideas! I added a tiny squeeze of lemon juice to the milk to make doubly sure of a good rise. We scoffed them with Victoria Plum jam and a dollop of clotted cream.

I hope you've been enjoying the sunshine too!