Hidden Fruit and Veg Cakes

Ingredients

Makes 80-90 mini muffin cakes, or 36 fairy cakes

FOR THE CAKES

80-90 mini muffin paper cases, or 36 fairy cake cases
350g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
80ml whole milk
120ml sunflower oil
230g light muscovado sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
300g prepared fruit or vegetables
Choose from: blueberries; courgette (roughly grated and excess moisture removed); apple (skinned, cored and grated); parsnip (peeled and grated); carrot (peeled and grated); or banana (roughly chopped)

FOR THE FROSTING

240g icing sugar, sifted
500g cream cheese
Juice of up to 1½ lemons
Natural liquid food colours: blue, green, yellow, pink, red 

These bite-sized cakes are packed full of goodness and iced with a delicious cream cheese frosting in a rainbow of colours. They’re a great way to use up any surplus fruit and veg you might have, and could even be considered to contribute to your 30 plants count!

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan 160°C/340°F/gas mark 3½. Line as many small-hole baking trays as you have with paper cases. (Or line three fairy cake trays with fairy cake cases.) Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and ginger. In a large bowl, beat together the milk, oil, sugar and eggs. Prepare your chosen vegetables or fruit. Make sure they are very well dried to avoid soggy cakes!

Beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, taking care not to over-mix, then fold in the vegetables or fruit. Spoon into the cases and bake for eight to 10 minutes, or until they spring back to the touch.

You may need to bake them in batches. Cool on a wire rack. (If you are making fairy cakes, they need to be baked for 15-20 minutes.)

To make the frosting, beat the icing sugar into the cream cheese.

Gradually add the lemon juice, to taste, then divide into six little bowls. Colour each bowl a different colour of the rainbow, mixing the food colours to achieve the orange and purple tones.

Divide the little cakes into six equal groups. Spread the frosting on to the cakes with a small blunt knife. You will have at least 12 of each colour. These cakes need to be iced on the day they are to be eaten, though the un-iced cakes freeze well, if you need to get ahead.