Frances Quinn's fried egg cakes

For the cakes

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Line the mini-muffin tin with the muffin cases.

2. 2

   Using a hand-held electric whisk (it’s tricky to beat this small quantity in a free-standing mixer), beat the butter and sugar together for 5–10 minutes or until very light, pale and creamy. Add the lemon zest and beat it in.

3. 3

   Break the egg into a mug or jug and beat with a fork. Gradually add the egg to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. If the mixture looks like it’s curdling, beat in a spoonful of the flour. Sift the flour and almonds into the bowl and fold them in until just combined. Gently stir in the lemon juice. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, dividing it equally. 

4. 4

   Bake for 10–12 minutes or until the cakes are risen and lightly golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them, still in their paper cases, to a wire rack to cool completely.

To ice the cakes

1. 1

   To make a lemon water icing for the fried eggs, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in a little lemon juice, a few drops at a time, until you have a smooth, thick paste. Carefully spoon a little of the icing on to the top of each cake creating an uneven shape that suggests the white of a fried egg. Use the latte stirrer to help you spread the icing into the right shape. Then, with the stirrer, apply a blob of orange curd to the centre of each egg. Leave to set.

2. 2

   Before serving, carefully place your cakes inside egg boxes, if using. 

3. 3

   Variation: Instead of the icing and curd eggs, you can use fried egg sweets, securing one to the top of each cake with a little honey, some water icing or curd.