to want people to stop saying cupcakes and call them fairy cakes instead?

[GetOrfMoiLand]

I don't know why I care really.

I just think that they should be called fairy cakes like days gone by

Saw Hummingbird cupcake book in a shop and thought should be Hummingbird fairy cakes.

Or is it just me?

They are cakes!

I think we should all be respectful of each other's cultures - I defend my right to call them buns, but do not deny others the right to call them whatever name they choose.

Hope Ian Hislop doesn't read this thread - it may take over from biscuitgate.

Fairy cakes are made in bun tins, because the tins are for baking buns in!
Must admit use the word fairy cake more than fairy bun but otherwise they are buns!

But do also call yeasty confections buns too.

So what do we all define a teacake as?

Esseentially they are both abominations, and what you really want is a nice, hot, buttered crumpet.

YABU they are queen cakes.

Queen cakes have sultanas in.

I love this thread. Rofling at cupcakes being 'aggressive', ladies being 'significantly Boden' etc.

Fairy cakes = small cakes with small amount glace icing + decorations on top.

Cupcakes = massive 'individual' cakes with waaaaay too much sickly icing + decorations.

I consider myself a cake fan but have never yet managed to get through an entire cupcake on my own. And, in my experience, the idea of eating a cupcake is nicer than the reality.

But what is this about 'frosting'? Is that not just an American term for icing?

Another vote for generic buns here. I do understand the term cup cake but have never uttered it myself.

'Is that not just an American term for icing?'

Nope.

In American:

icing = thin, runny glaze
frosting = thick buttercream or whip cream that holds a shape

Ahhhh, thank you marenmj!

Can't say I'd ever heard it used here until around the time of the invasion of the cupcakes though

Cup cake = cake made in a cup
Fairy cake = cake made by fairy's or containing fairy's

Simples

But frosting doesn't have to be butter or cream based...seven minute frosting

lol, if you know where to get corn syrup in the uk, please tell! Been looking for ages

bakerella says that the seven-minute-frosting is too meringue-y and not worth the trouble.

When it comes to cupcakes I trust her implicitly

I still stand by what I said that frosting has to hold its shape tho

Must add [pedantic] that muffins are totally different and if they turn out cakey (like starbucks and costa monstrosities) then they have been made wrong, over-mixed with way too much sugar, and are not cupcakes AT ALL

You don't need corn syrup to do that frosting, though - Mary Berry calls it 'American Frosting' and her recipe works really well (it's my DC's favourite - the 'full' version is actually IMHO easier and certainly far better than the 'quick' version) - yes, I agree, frosting holds it's shape - I will go with that definition.

Also agree on muffins and cupcakes being fundamentally different (except that yukky shop-bought muffins and yukky shop-bought cupcakes are often indistinguishable apart from presence/absence of yukky oversweet frosting )

Buns. Up north. They are small cakes, it's the same mixture, just err....smaller. If with wings, butterfly BUNS.

Never heard of fairy cakes till I moved down south. Agree English cupcakes you get in a box - Mr kiplng or some such- with a slab of icing, choc or orange and lemon. Not gooey.

Cupcakes a la US didn't exist in this country till recently.

Cakes!

It just clarifies everything. We're no nonsense up North.

Clear: 'Shall we make some buns?'
Not Clear: 'Shall we make some cakes?'

I can't speak for the whole of the US, just where I grew up.

The reason cupcakes are so big is because they are made in the same pan as the muffins. Different batter, same pan

ROFL at maren, 'I can't speak for the whole of the US'

Go on , you know you want to!

Exactly happystory

You bake buns in a bun tin and you bake cakes in a cake tin!

But it doesn't clarify anything as yeast is involved in the bun making process. I refer to cakes by their type e.g sponge,fairycake, cupcake etc but collectively they are cakes.

So if they're buns what do you call Chelsea buns, cinnamon buns, hot cross buns etc? Also buns.

And to me you're down South. I'm a Scot.

A bun can either be a yeast based sugar confection or a sponge based one!

Just as a cream cake can be doughnut or pastry ie an apple turnover is a cream cake

But for fairy cakes/cupcakes you put the mixture into a cake case before baking.