carrot cake with whisky and lime...
you will need: 250g sultanas, a generous tot of whisky, juice and zest of 2 limes, 2tsp each of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground cloves, a mug of just boiled water, 5tbsps of soft brown sugar, 1tbsp each of black treacle and golden syrup, 4 good sized carrots (finely grated), 150 g pecans or walnuts, 4 large free range eggs, 250 g of melted butter, 150g of cinnamon sugar, 150g of soft brown sugar, about 400g of self raising flour.
Put the sultanas in your biggest mixing bowl, add in the spices, the spoons of sugar, the syrup, the treacle, the lime juice and zest, a good big splash of whisky and enough hot water to cover by a good 1cm. Leave to soak for about 8 hours. Add the carrots and the nuts. Beat the eggs and stir in. Add the sugar. Pour in the melted butter. Add the flour bit by bit until the cake batter has a dropping texture (i.e. is a bit gloopy - runny is better than stiff for this cake). If you fine your mixture is a bit stiff add a splash of milk to loosen, or a little more flour to thicken it. Pour into 2 prepared loaf tins and bake for just over an hour in a 150 degree oven. you can leave to cool and ice or just cut slices as soon as its comfortable to touch.
teabread...
...when I first baked this I used Delia Smith's recipe (which you can find online) and it is wonderful, but I prefer my teabread a little chewier in texture with a punchier flavour, so I played about with it a bit - it also depends on what dried fruit I find lurking in the back of the cupboard.
You will need 250g of sultanas, raisins, currants and candied peel, 1 large egg, 450g of self raising flour, 1 and 1/2 pints of strong tea, 150g walnuts, 75g demerera sugar, tsp each of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice.
Put all the dried fruit, spices and the sugar in a bowl, then pour over the hot tea. Leave to soak for about 8 hours. Beat the egg and stir through. Stir in the flour (and this is no light sponge cake, so really have at it when you're mixing). Put in two loa tins and cook for about an hour at 170 degrees. You'll know it's ready when a skewer comes out clean and the top is a glossy, comker brown. Delicious.
banana, dark chocolate and pecan cake with brown sugar topping...
250g each of butter, caster sugar and self raising flour, 4 large eggs, 2 medium, very ripe bananas, 100g of dark chocolate and about 75g of pecans, 4 heaped dessert spoons of soft brown sugar.
Cream together the butter and sugar, mix in the eggs and the flour until you have a smooth batter. Mash the banans with a fork, bash the chocolate and pecan with a rolling pin until the bits are about the size of a 5p piece. (Put the chocolate and nuts in a sealed freezer bag with the air squeezed out so the bits don't fly everywhere - and warn your family when you are about to start, because it makes more noise than you think and they will worry that you've finally lost it and started destroying the kitchen). Mix everything together. You might want to add a little milk to loosen it up a bit. Pour the batter into a greased and lined cake pan, sprinkle the brown sugar on top and bake in the oven at 150 degrees for about an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter. Leave to cool completely in the pan and then turn out. If you have will of iron, wrap the cake securely or pop in an airtight tine for a couple of days and it will develop a lovely sticky top. Or sit smugly in the cakey fug with a mug of tea and a slab of cake and know that all is as it should be in the world.
the perfect summer cake...
...this is basically a classic victoria sponge a bit snazzier - perfect after a light summery lunch, or, if you're like me, for breakfast outside with the kids and a mug of tea at about 7 a.m.
250g butter, 250g sugar, 250g self raising flour, 4 large free range eggs, juice of 1 lemon, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons of strawberry syrup, 2/3 of a tub of marscapone, about 2 teacups of icing sugar.
Do the usual with the butter, sugar, flour and eggs [sometimes I have to add a good splodge of milk to the cake batter to give it the right dropping consistency but in the heat of summer you mught find that you don't have to - or just the barest hint will do] but when you have poured the batter into the tim sprinkle the lemon juice and the granulated sugar over the top. Bake the cake at 150 degrees for about 45 minutes and leave to completely cool. To make the strawberry syrup take a couple of good sized handfuls of strawberries (I usually use the almost overripe ones that the children won't tolerate) and pop in a pan with a good covering of granulated sugar - about 8 tablespoons. Heat over your lowest heat on the hob until the strawberries are all squishy and a delicate syrup appears. Mash with a fork - and for goodness sake be careful because it's really, really hot - and leave to cool.
Once everything is cool, cut the cake in half and spread the bottom half with the strawberry syrup - some sliced fresh strawberries are good here too. Whip the marscapone and the icing sugar together until light and fluffy (if your cake is only for grown ups who might want to add a generous splash of sweet sherry too - old ladies loves it and you will too - just accept it and delight! Spread the whipped marscapone on top of the jam and place the top half of the cake on top. Yum.
blueberry, buttermilk and almond cake...
This cake ticks all my boxes - hope you like it too!
250g butter, 250g sugar, 4 large free range eggs, 150g self raising flour, 100g ground almonds, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, about a teacup full of buttermilk, 2 large handfuls of blueberries, a heaped teaspoon of granulated sugar and a handful of flaked almonds.
Beat the butter until pale, and in the sugar and cream together until fluffy. Beat the eggs and add to the mixture, along with the flour, ground almonds, and almond extract. When well mixed add the buttermilk until the batter is of a soft, dropping consistency (basically it plops of the beaters in a smooth, langorous and deeply satisfying kind of way). Gently stir through the blueberries. Pour the batter into a lined cake tin (cakes with fresh fruit in are quite moist so the tin really should be lined - but go ahead and live dangerously if you've got the nerve). Smooth out the top and cover with the flaked almonds and a heaped teaspoon of granulated sugar. Bake in the oven at 150 degrees for about 40 minutes. This tastes best when still a little warm from the oven - but obviously can be eaten whenever you think is best.
apricot, date and almond loaf...
...some cakes are for celebration and some are for comfort. In difficult times this cake can provide a small piece of reassurance and joy. Really - it's that good.
250g butter, 150g caster sugar, 100g dark brown sugar, 150g self raising flour, 100g ground almonds, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of grated nutmeg, 4 eggs - beaten, juice of 1 orange, a handful each of dried apricots and dates - sliced up, a few teaspoons of granulated sugar.
Beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Cream the butter and all the sugar (except the granulated) together. Add the almond extract, ground almonds, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, flour and beaten eggs. Beat together until smooth. Mix in all but a generous teaspoon of the orange juice. Pour the batter into a lined loaf tin. Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top and dribble the last teaspoon of orange juice on too. Bake in the oven at 150 degrees for about 45 minutes. Leave to cool - espcially if you want to be able to cut the loaf - overnight is probably best, unless you don't mind eating messy cake. No, I didn't think so...
rhubarb pudding cake...
...even if you don't like rhubarb I promise, promise that you will like this.
Follow the recipe for the little cakes (see below) but instead of putting the mixture into little cases stir in 5 - 10 tablespoons of stewed rhubarb (depending on how much you like rhubarb). Then put it all in a 6 or 8 inch cake tin. Even if your cake tin is wonderful, and you don't normally, I would line the bottom and sides of your cake tin with baking paper because this is a moist cake and i would fret about sticking. Bake in an oven at 150 degrees for about 1 hour. Leave to cool, turn out and ice as desired.
custard buttercream icing...
125g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of custard powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Beat the butter until it's pale and light and fluffy (if you do this by hand you are a better women than I am - seriously, if you don't have a mixer buy some nice custard from the shop and just pour that over when you serve - life's too short). Add the icing sugar and custard powder and beat again. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add two tablespoons of hot water and mix again. Spread over the cake and sprinkle with pink sugar glimmer (if that's your aesthetic - pink sugared rose petals would look beautiful too, just make sure that the roses are organic).
little cakes...
250g butter
250g caster sugar
250g self raising flour
4 large eggs (preferrably from happy little hens who scratch about outside and have dust baths with their chickeny friends)
About 2 tablespoons of liquid (milk, lemon juice, malibu... you get the idea)
Cream the butter until it's really soft and a little bit pale.
Mix in the sugar until it's a fluffy, creamy consistency. If you're using a bowl and wooden spoon your arms will ache a bit by the time it's done - if you're using a mixer it will be about 3 minutes.
Beat the eggs in a bowl then add them and the flour bit by bit to the butter/sugar mixture.
Stir through which ever liquid you want to flavour your cakes or just milk if you want plain.
Spoon the mixture into little cases and bake in the oven at 170 degrees for about 12 minutes. Yummy with icing - yummy without.
really easy shortbread
1 packet of butter
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of corn flour
Beat the butter until it is nice and soft and a little bit pale.
Add the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until it feels a bit fluffy.
Add both types of flour and rub the mixture between the tips of your fingers until all the flour is incorporated and the crumbs feel buttery. This can take a while so pop the radio on or have someone in the kitchen to have a nice chat with.
Start to knead the crumbs to form a dough. Again, you've probably got enough time to mentally redecorate maybe three rooms of your house.
Split the dough in two and roll each half into a tube shape. Just like at primary school when you made worms with play dough. This is fun so be careful not to get carried away.
Wrap one in cling film and store in the fridge until you want to use it. This never last longer than 24 hours in my fridge but it should be okay for a few days.
Cut the other into nice fat discs (or thin of you want a fancy with after dinner coffee kind of biscuit).
Place onto a parchment lined baking tray and put into a preheated oven (180 degrees) for about 12 minutes. But the whole thin/thick thing matters here so please check. Normally when they smell absolutely gorgeous and you don't think you can stand it anymore, they're about done.
Let the little goodies cool for a while but they're pretty good warm so don't wait too long.
You can add other suff (lemon zest, cocoa powder, rosemary) but you don't really need my permission for that.
