Recipe: Lightened Up "Fairy Bread" Cake

I think one thing every Australian kid thinks about when they think of a kid's party is fairy bread - so naturally, when I was thinking up ideas of what to make for our Australia Day get together this year, my mind went straight to this Aussie party treat!

But I didn't want to make normal fairy bread. Forget boring old white bread, slathered with butter and liberally covered with sprinkles - I wanted something bigger and better.

I wanted a Fairy Bread Cake!

But in true Kristy style, I didn't just want any cake. I wanted to create a Fairy Bread Cake which was absolutely delicious but also healthier, lower in fat and sugar and gluten free. I like to make things easy for myself, can't you see ;P 

So I set to work on creating exactly that. 

What I came up with was the most incredible cake that the entire SIL family became instantly obsessed with. And when I say entire I mean even my fussy sister who "hates cake" and usually won't even try a single bite asked me if I'd make this cake as her birthday cake from here on out because she loved it. 

The only thing wrong with the whole family loving said cake? Less cake for me! :P 

With a fluffy, butter cake base and buttercream frosting topped with sprinkles - you would never guess this cake was healthier in the slightest - and that's what makes it so awesome.

You can have your cake and eat it too, without a speck of guilt as it's lower fat, lower sugar, gluten free and whipped up in minutes. 

Best of all, this Healthier Butter Cake Recipe is the perfect base for any kind of cake - so you can use it for birthday after birthday and celebration after celebration; whether it's topped with pink princess-y decorations or chocolate fudge frosting and dinosaurs. 

So let me give you the recipe so that you can make it yourself! >> 

Lightened Up "Fairy Bread" Cake Recipe

A healthier butter cake recipe that's perfect for any celebration topped with buttercream frosting and sprinkles to look just like a giant piece of fairy bread!

Serves around 20-30 people, depending on the size of your pieces!

Lower fat, lower sugar, gluten free, freezer friendly 

Lightened Up Butter Cake:

2 cups (240g) gluten free self raising flour (or regular for a non GF version)

2 tsp baking powder 

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (110g) butter

1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar*

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

2 eggs 

2/3 cup milk of your choice 

• Preheat your oven to 175C/350F
• Grease and/or line a deep 8" square cake tin or bread slice shaped tin (we used this Cakewich Mould from Fred purchased from OzSale) or 2x thinner 8" square tins
• In a separate bowl, sift your flour, baking soda and pinch of salt and set aside.
• In a mixer, beat your butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the edges a couple of times inbetween beating to incorporate everything. 
• Add in your vanilla extract and eggs, mixing until combined with your butter mixture, scraping down the sides to ensure everything is mixed (it will look a bit like you've ruined your lovely fluffy butter mix, but bear with me!)
• Next, add in your flour and mix just enough to combine with your butter mixture.
• Add in your milk and beat your cake mixture for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.
• Pour your mixture into your prepared pan(s) and bake for around 30-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of your cake removes clean.
• Baking time will depend on the thickness of your cake, so keep an eye on it. If the outside of your cake is browning too quickly but the inside still isn't cooked, simply cover it with foil and allow it to finish baking whilst covered. 
• Leave your cake to cool before removing it from the tin. 
• This cake will keep for up to a week (if it lasts that long) at can be kept at room temperature or in the fridge, depending on whether you frost it or not. We always like to keep frosted cakes in the fridge but if we're leaving the cake plain we'll keep it at room temp. 
• Frost or decorate with whatever your heart desires! 

Notes:

• *This doesn't make an overly sugary sweet cake, so if you like things sweeter, use around 3/4 cup (150g) sugar. 
• This recipe will also make ~16-20 cupcakes (the half batch recipe is here as our Lightened Up Lamington Cupcakes) or two 6-8" round cakes which can then be layered if desired.

Buttercream Frosting

3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted 

60g butter, slightly softened

• Beat your butter and sugar until light and fluffy, adding a touch of milk if needed.
• We actually didn't use all of the frosting for this cake (only about half), however, if you're looking to cover the whole cake you'll probably want to double it. 

Sprinkle Topping

• There's no real need for instructions or ingredients here, just liberally cover your cake with sprinkles/100's and 1000's of your choice! We used a gluten free naturally coloured pack we found at Coles!

But tell me, what was your favourite "Kid's party food" as a child?
I was the weird kid who didn't like sausage rolls, hated party pies and wasn't fussed by frankfurts and didn't even like cake (I know, I said I was weird!) but fairy bread was definitely my jam ;)