In the UK, what Americans call Cupcakes are called Fairy cakes.
Now, there is some debate here, amongst both my American ex-pat friends and the British themselves, as to whether cupcakes and fairy cakes are indeed the same thing. At most grocery stores, they sell desserts labeled both "cupcakes" and "fairy cakes" that appear to be nearly identical.
At first, we thought that "fairy cakes" were simply petite-sized cupcakes. But, this proved to be wrong.
British people have told me that fairy cakes are lighter in texture than cupcakes and that they are topped with "British icing" (aka, a light glaze of sugar or chocolate) instead of "American icing" (aka, a big wallop of butter cream). However, I have seen desserts labeled "fairy cakes" that look exactly like American cupcakes!
So, I'm going to go ahead and make it official (as official as this little blog can be) and say that Cupcakes and Fairy cakes are the same thing.
4 comments:
The so-called British version sounds better to me. I have been thinking about making pound cake cupcakes recently.
The name alone makes me more inclined to eat the British version. :) Generally speaking, I hate American icing. Sarah if you succeed with your pound cake–cupcake recipe, let me know. Pound cake is my favorite!
The name alone makes me more inclined to eat the British version. :) Generally speaking, I hate American icing. Sarah if you succeed with your pound cake–cupcake recipe, let me know. Pound cake is my favorite!
My internet at home isn't working right now...I have lots to update you on!
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