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Sunday, 10 August 2014

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients
8 oz 225g soft margarine
8 oz 225g light muscavado sugar
3 medium eggs
4 oz 100g walnut pieces
8 oz 225g self raising flour
2 tsps baking powder
14 oz 400g cooking apples peeled, cored and grated
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180/ 350/ Gas Mark 4
2. Grease and base line a 9" round tin preferably spring form
3. Mix all the ingredients together except the apple and cinnamon until well blended.
4. Spoon half the mixture into the tin and cover with the grated apples and sprinkle with the cinnamon
5. Spread the remainder of the mixture over the apple and sprinkle with additional
dememera sugar. I use Waitrose Cinnamon sugar.
6. Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until golden and firm and a knife comes out clean.

7. Leave in the tin for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Courgette and Walnut Cake

350g courgettes
100g chopped walnuts
250g sunflower oil – by weight
4 medium eggs
175g light muscavado sugar
175g golden granulated sugar
grated zest of half and orange
100g wholemeal flour
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4
2.     Grease and line two 20cm deep sandwich tins, or if you are making the loaf versions, line two 2lb loaf tins. I usually cheat with the loaves and use the liners that can be bought in most supermarkets now!
3.     Coarsely grate the courgettes and squeeze out as much juice as possible in a clean tea towel
4.     Place in a large mixing bowl with the chopped walnuts
5.     Blend the eggs, oil, sugars and orange zest in a food processor
6.     Pour the mixture onto the courgettes
7.     Sift the other ingredients on and mix well. The batter will be quite soft.
8.     Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 25-30 minutes for the sandwich tins and 40-50 minutes for the loaf tins. A skewer will come out clean, the top will be golden brown and feel firm to the touch and the cake will be shrinking slightly from the sides of the tin.
9.     Leave to cool in the tin.

If you have made the loaf tins, use a cream cheese and icing sugar mix topping. If you have made the sandwich version, use the same cream cheese in the middle, along with lemon curd and more of the cream cheese on top. Courgettes are one of your five a day, so why not?!


The cake is quite soft and sticky and will stay moist for several days, if it lasts that long!

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Fresh cherry bakewell

I seemed to have a fridge full of cherries, so used some instead of jam in a bakewell tart today. Worked rather well!