We’ve had one sunny day all week, so we decided to take full advantage of the good weather on Monday. As well as getting some washing done and hung out on the line, we went for a longish walk. It was one of our usual routes that takes us past some huge elder shrubs – and they’re currently in bloom!
The flowers are usually prolific and big as saucers, but this year they were small and scant. I thought someone had beaten me to it but it seems that they’ve just not had a very good year. I’ve picked and used them in the past to make elderflower crunch cake. This week, I’ve teamed them with a citrus fruit (that I actually like) and made an elderflower and pink grapefruit cake. Infusing sugar with the elderflowers was a great way to impart the delicate flavour into the cooked sponge.
I remember, as a child, having breakfast of half a grapefruit sprinkled with Demerara sugar and a few dashes of Angostura bitters. Produced in Trinidad and more usually associated with making cocktails, bitters and grapefruit juice make a delicious combination.
I added half a teaspoon of bitters to the batter and also a scant dash to the icing. It’s very potent stuff, you don’t want it to overpower the delicate flavour and fragrance of the elderflowers.
An afternoon tea loaf cake that I made using flavours that I like – and it didn’t disappoint. Making the icing with a little of the pink grapefruit juice instead of water proved a master stroke – it was very morish!
- 1 large or 3 smaller elderflower heads
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 240g/8½oz unsalted butter, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1 un-waxed pink grapefruit, zest and juice
- ½tsp Angostura bitters
- 210g/7½oz self-raising flour
- 90g/3oz plain flour
- 250g/9oz icing (powdered) sugar
- 15ml/1tbsp pink grapefruit juice
- scant dash of Angostura bitters
- In a bowl with a lid, toss together the caster sugar and elderflowers. Cover, set aside and allow the flavour and fragrance of the flowers to infuse into the sugar for a few hours
- Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with parchment paper or pre-made loaf tin liner
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan/325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar (elderflowers removed) until light and fluffy
- In a small measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the plain and self-raising flour
- With the mixer on a low speed, slowly pour in the beaten eggs in three stages alternating with the addition of a tablespoon of the flour (to prevent the mixture from curdling)
- Add the remaining flour, grapefruit zest and all but 2 tablespoons of the grapefruit juice
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin and level using a spatula or back of a spoon
- Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool in its tin for ½ hour before turning out on to a wire rack
- Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl
- Stir in the reserved 1tbsp grapefruit juice and dash of bitters. If the consistency feels too wet or dry, add an extra teaspoonful of icing sugar or juice as required
- Remove the parchment from the cooled cake and spoon the icing evenly over the top, allowing it to drip down the sides
- If you can't get your hands on a pink grapefruit, a white or red one will be fine
Cakes & Bakes: Jelly and coconut loaf cake
This week’s Cakes & Bakes fare brings together two of Justin’s favourites; afternoon tea loaf cake and jam & coconut slices. This jelly and coconut loaf cake was bound to be a pleaser!
I used a couple of tablespoons of my mixed fruit jelly and the remainder of a bag of coconut chips that I used to make Dolester Miles’ coconut pecan cake. If you can’t get hold of coconut chips, use a little dessicated coconut.
Of course, this cake has got to be teamed with a pot of tea!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 200g/7oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs, beaten
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- 200g/7oz self-raising flour
- ½tsp baking powder
- 200g/7oz berry jelly
- 25g/¾oz coconut chips, toasted
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Line the base and sides of a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment or pre-made loaf tin liner
- In a stand mixer with the K beater attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- In a medium measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs and vanilla extract and gradually add to the still turning stand mixer
- Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold into the batter
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before letting it cool completely on a wire rack
- Remove the parchment and place on a serving plate
- In a small saucepan over a low heat, whisk the jelly until smooth. Add a couple of teaspoons of water if necessary to thin a little
- Pour the jelly evenly over the top of the loaf before sprinkling with the toasted coconut chips
- Spread jam evenly over the top and scatter with desiccated coconut
- If you can't get hold of coconut chips, simply use about 10-15 grams of dessicated instead
Cakes & Bakes: Bara brith
We spent a fantastic few days in Wales last month and are hoping to return there very soon. We did plan on trying a few traditional Welsh dishes, but never got around to it.
To make amends, I found a recipe for bara brith on the Visit Wales website and gave it a try today. Bara Brith is a spiced loaf cake chock-full of tea-soaked, mixed fruit and glazed on the top with a few drizzles of honey.
I’m going to finish this post tomorrow once I’ve actually tasted it. The directions recommend that the loaf is given a day or two to ‘rest’ before consuming.
Update: We each had a couple of slices with our midday cups of tea. It’s a positive thumbs up from the both of us!
Bara brith
Ingredients
- 400 g/14oz mixed fruit e.g. sultanas, raisins, currants
- 300 ml/10½fl oz strong, hot tea
- 250 g/9oz self-raising flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 100 g/3½oz Muscovado sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- honey to glaze
Instructions
- Put the dried fruit in a mixing bowl and pour over the tea
- Mix in the sugar and stir well to dissolve
- Leave to soak for at least 6 hours or, preferably, overnight
- On the following day, sift the flour and mixed spice into the soaked fruit (no need to drain the tea) and stir in the egg. Combine well
- Preheat the oven to 180°C /350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with parchment paper or pre-made loaf tin liner
- Pour in the mixture and bake for about an hour until the loaf has risen and is cooked through
- Drizzle a little honey over the top of the still warm cake
- Allow to cool on a wire rack
- Slice and smear with butter before devouring!
If you can resist the temptation, bara brith is at its best a couple of days after baking and keeps for up to a weekCakes & Bakes: Dundee cake
Regular readers will know that we love an afternoon fruit cake Chez H is for Home; so the turn of Dundee cake was always going to come around.
There are lots out there to choose from, but Delia is often the one I turn to for ‘guaranteed success’ cake recipes. This one was adapted from one I found in her Delia’s Cakes cook book.
I don’t like orange or candied peel and am indifferent to glacé cherries (fussy, I know). Instead, I’ve used a dried fruit mixture of currants, raisins and sultanas.
It looked delicious when it came out of the oven and tasted delicious too – eaten ‘as is’ or with a thin spread of butter. As suspected, a cup of tea was the perfect accompaniment.
Pin the recipe to Pinterest for a later date.
- 225g/8oz plain flour
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 150g/5¼oz spreadable butter
- 150g/5¼oz golden caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 450g/1lb mixed dried fruit (you could use currants, raisins, sultanas, glacé cherries, candied peel and even dried apricots)
- 2 level tbsp ground almonds
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp whisky (purists will insist it must be Scottish)
- 60g/2oz whole, blanched almonds
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Grease an 18cm/7" round cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper
- Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into the bowl of a stand mixer
- Add the butter, caster sugar and eggs and combine
- Add the whiskey and mix into the batter
- Fold in the dried fruit, ground almonds and lemon zest
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, spreading it out evenly with the back of the spoon. Arrange the whole almonds in concentric circles over the top. Only press them down very lightly otherwise they'll sink during cooking
- Put the cake into the centre of the oven and bake for 1¾ hours or until the centre is firm and springy to touch
- Allow it to cool on a wire rack before removing it from the tin
- Store in cool place, in an air-tight container - it should keep for a week or longer