Tray of Ginger and Honey Cappellino Cakes

Cappellino means little hat in Italian (or at least I'm pretty sure it does), which I thought was a cuter name for these than 'butterfly-cakes-I-got-bored-with'. I made the cake mix with creme fraiche, which has made it super light, and slightly more sugar than usual which has made the crust lovely and crispy - perfect for the hats! This was also the first time I got to use my new silicone cupcake cases, which seem great so far - the bottoms of the cupcakes are much softer than paper cases, they come out easier, and it's better for the environment (and my purse). Now to find out how easy they are to wash...

Cream together 4oz butter and 8oz sugar. Mix in 1 egg and a few drops of vanilla extract, then stir in 120ml creme fraiche. Sieve in 4½oz plain flour and a teaspoon of baking powder and spoon into a muffin tray (I got 12 fairly large fairy cakes). Cook for 20-30 minutes at 170-180°c. (I know this is low, but it makes the tops flat, which is useful for the topping.)

Now you'll have this:

So far, so yummy, but this is where it gets super exciting.

Christian's mum gave us a jar of M&S Stem Ginger and Malt Whisky Conserve this weekend. It's gorgeous just on toast, but I thought it would be ideal to contrast with the sweet, fluffy cakes. The cream manages to contrast again with the cake and the jam, both with its textural creaminess and its slightly savoury taste.

So, wait until they're cool, then, to start the cappellino, cut out a cone from the top of each cake using a sharp knife (if it's blunt you'll just make a mess). Put a tiny half-spoonful of the jam in the bottom of each hole. To make the cream, mix together about 100g cream cheese, a soup-spoonful of creme fraiche and about 2 teaspoons of honey. Make sure to taste it as you add the honey - it's not supposed to be super sweet, but you don't want it to just taste like cheese! Now share out the cream between all the cakes - it probably won't fit in the holes, but that's fine. Finally, put your cappellino back on top.

And there you are. 

I was thinking of trying to get some pear in there as well (pear and ginger being one of my favourites), but didn't manage it. I bet it would also work great with fig jam, if anyone out there has a glut of figs.