cut and come again cake

This is a favourite in my cottage. Here are the ingredients:

8 ozs self-raising flour

4 ozs soft margarine (I like Flora best)

4 ozs caster sugar

2 ozs dessicated coconut

handful of glace cherries (yes, they’re sticky)

1 egg

6 tablespoons full of milk

pinch of salt

Method:

Weigh out the flour and put into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt.

Rub in the margarine until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Don’t overwork it.

Add the coconut and cherries and mix carefully with a fork so as not to break up the cherries too much.

Break the egg and add to the mixture with the milk. Stir in until it looks like this:

At this point you can adjust the mixture if it is too dry. Don’t add too much milk to start with. You can always add more, but you can’t take it out.

Put the mixture into a paper case, in a loaf tin at the centre of the oven.

Cook at Gas 4 for one hour. When you take it out of the oven, use a skewer to test that the cake is cooked. If the skewer is placed in the centre of the cake, it should come out clean. If it doesn’t, put the cake back for a further 10 minutes. Test again.

If the cake is done, remove the paper case and place onto your prettiest china dish, preferably oblong shaped, like this:

Now, will you join me for a nice cup of coffee and a slice of the cake? I promise you’ll get a bit with a cherry in it 🙂

This was a recipe from Oma’s kitchen.

Enjoy!

Oma

This cake has always been very popular in my cottage and because it’s got bananas and dates in it, it’s one of the more healthy cakes on the list. It is very moist so it keeps for a week, if you don’t eat it up first. I just keep it on its plate with some cling film over it.

Ingredients as follows:

8 ozs of self raising flour

pinch of salt

4 ozs of soft margarine or softened butter

4 ozs of caster sugar

4ozs of dried dates, chopped

1 large banana, sliced thinly

1 egg

4 tablespoons of milk

Method:

Weigh out the ingredients ready to start.

Oops, forgot the banana!

I start with the flour and the margarine, rubbing the margarine into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Then add the sugar, dates, banana, pinch of salt, egg and milk and amalgamate together. Don’t overdo it or the banana will turn to mush.

Put the mixture into a lined cake tin. I use a loaf tin. Sprinkle a handful of flaked almonds or walnuts on top. If you want, you can also sprinkle some demerara over but I think this makes the cake too sweet. Remember you have banana and dates in there already.

Cook in the centre of your oven for one hour 15 minutes at Gas Mark 4 or equivalent. After that time, test the cake to see if it’s done. It should be brown on the top and a skewer should come out clean if you prick the middle of the cake.

Take the cake out of the tin and put it on a pretty plate. You can remove the paper if you have guests coming or leave it on to keep the cake fresh if there is just the two of you.

Serve with a nice cup of tea and a couple of hot buttered crumpets.