Caraway & Lemon Sponge Cake - deliciously light as a feather!

I can't remember why I suddenly had a notion to make a caraway seed cake, all I know is that I'd been trying to make one for the last week or so.  Well, when I say "trying to" what I mean is trying to find time, rather than trying to and failing in a welter of eggs, butter and flour!

It has been an absolute dog's age since I last made a caraway seed cake and I recall the last one was very successful.  I've used caraway in various savoury recipes (braised red cabbage, that sort of thing) and had plenty to call upon in the cupboard - which always helps.

So this cake is actually a collaboration between Saint Delia Smith of hallowed baking and cooking fame and myself.  You see, I took Delia's Caraway Seed Cake recipe (just click on the link to see it) and adapted it with somewhat spectacular results.  It's often an extremely dodgy thing to do, adapting something like a cake recipe, but I've always been a tryer.

Because I'm me, I just had to consider a bit of a spin on an old favourite and decided to pair lemon up with the caraway.  It seemed to me to be a compatible pairing.  Delia's recipe uses ground almond and I didn't want that, so out that went and I simply replaced it with the same amount of flour.  To up the lemon influence, I added a small amount of lemon essence along with the lemon zest.

Oh boy, what a team we make, Delia and I.  The cake baked well, rose beautifully and smelled divine.

The addition of the lemon juice drizzle icing is perfect in that it adds a yummy zing to the cake and the caraway comes in once the lemon calms down, adding a deliciously warm aromatic element to the flavour.

The texture of the cake is just perfect, if I say so myself.  Light as a proverbial feather, it dances across your tongue like a deliciously cakey zephyr, leaving mouthwatering lemon and comforting caraway flavours.  Mmmmmn, get the kettle on Mother, I'll cut us another slice!

CARAWAY & LEMON SPONGE CAKE

Ingredients :

225g self raising flour

175g salted butter at room temperature

175g golden caster sugar

3 rounded tsp caraway seeds

zest of 1 lemon

half a tsp of lemon essence

3 large eggs

4 tbsp milk (I used skimmed goat milk).

For the icing :

3 tbsp icing sugar

zest of 1 lemon

juice of half a lemon.

Method :

Pre-heat the oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

Prepare a 2lb loaf tin by lining with either a pre-formed tin liner or with baking parchment.

Take a large mixing bowl and add all the cake ingredients (not the icing ingredients!).

Now, using an electric hand whisk, mix the lot up until you have a smooth, creamy consistency.  It really is as easy as that.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.  Take a moment to level the surface to achieve a more even bake.

Place into the oven on a low shelf for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  It will be worthwhile checking the cake at around 40 minutes and placing some baking parchment over the top (we know this as "putting a hat on it!") if the cake looks particularly brown.

Once done, let the cake cool in the tin for some 10 minutes, then remove onto a cooling rack.

Once the cake is cool, mix together the icing ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle the icing over the top of the cake.  Allow some time for the icing to dry - and tuck in!

Printable version

Walnut, ginger & banana tea cake

From even as far back as last Wednesday, I knew I'd be making a cake - or muffins - this weekend.  I just had this yen to bake.

It's been ages since I made a cake.  Hubby rather took over the cake making mantle with his gorgeous Boiled Fruit Cake, but he's been a bit too busy lately for baking and we've got out of the habit of having a cake around.  Now this state of affairs is undoubtedly good for our waistlines, but is it good for us spiritually?  ~takes tongue firmly out of cheek~

Speaking of waistlines - I decided to go out for a "walk" this afternoon.  It was blowy and coolly damp out there and, having been sat beside a partially open window for three hours and not frozen to death, I thought it might be a good moment to begin my "Mummy Walks Around the Block" project.  You see, I've been (pretty much) incapable of walking for these last six months or more, due to Polymyalgia Rheumatica.  In fact, I'm fairly incapable of standing for longer than two or three minutes at any one time.  I thought it would be good to see whether a) I could make it around the smaller of the two "blocks" we've got available to us here and b) how many garden walls I would have to sit on, if I didn't.

Well, it turned out to be three garden walls - and I did make it all the way around our little block.  Which is remarkable, on its own!  Okay, it's only 0.21 of a mile, but it's a start.

So anyway, I digress.  Back to the cake.

The ingredients list turned into something of an epic, which is largely due to the fact that I have a number of ingredients left over from christmas (walnuts and stem ginger), but I may have got a tad carried away.  No matter, however, as the whole turned into very much a sum of its parts and it is definitely a cake I would make again.  The texture is very moist, although not heavy, and it doesn't require a slick of butter in order to make it palatable, as many tea cakes tend to.

Such was its siren's call, that upon returning from my amble around the block, we immediately indulged in a cup of tea and a slice of cake, thereby negating any good the amble might have done me.  Very British.

WALNUT, GINGER & BANANA TEA CAKE

Ingredients :

225g self-raising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

175g softened butter

50g light muscovado sugar

1 tbsp clear honey

2 eggs, beaten

1 medium sized ripe banana, mashed

50g walnut pieces (crushed small, if necessary)

100g sultanas

2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped

warm water, if necessary.

Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 160c/140c fan/Gas 3.

2.  Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

3.  Tip the flour, cinnamon, butter, sugar, honey, banana., walnuts and eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix for some 2-3 minutes or until just combined.

4.  Add the stem ginger and sultanas to the bowl and continue mixing until combined.

5.  Decant into the loaf tin and level the top.  Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and bake for 1 hour.

6.  When done, the top should feel firm and not springy.  Bake for another 10 minutes if necessary.

7.  Cool slightly, then lift out onto a cooling rack using the paper.  Once cold, remove the paper completely.

8.  Cut into thick slices and serve with a cup of tea for the adults and a glass of milk for the juniors.

.