Recipe exchange: perfect fairy cakes

There are two things I don’t understand about the modern obsession with fairy cakes, writes Mrs Stevens, from Southampton. First, since when did we start calling them cup cakes? And two, why do people buy them from overpriced bakeries when they are such a doddle to make? This recipe has never let me down.

Ingredients

Makes 12

120g softened butter

120g caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g self-raising flour

For the icing

50g icing sugar

50g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Hundreds and thousands

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and line a tartlet tin with 12 fairy-cake cases.

2 Whisk together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

3 Add the beaten egg, a little