Apricot & Tayberry Cake

I made this cake for tea with my parents and our friends Fergus and Sara Jane. It's full of classic summer flavours, using fresh apricots and lots of home grown tayberries from the fruit cage. Tayberries are a cross between raspberries and loganberries, and if you can't find any near you then raspberries would do just as well. The review from Fergus? "Crunchy topped and sublime with a moist and yielding crumb".

Recipe
My own recipe.
Serves 6-8

for the cake:
3 large eggs, room temperature
200g golden caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 apricots, cored and chopped small
approx 200g tayberries or raspberries
2 handfuls dessicated coconut
3 handfuls flaked almonds


1.Turn the oven to 170C (150C fan oven). Grease a 20cm round baking tin and line the bottom with baking paper.

2. Cream butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes in a large bowl until fluffy.

3. Add the first egg and a tablespoon of the flour, and beat well until smooth. Repeat the process with the other two eggs one after the other, adding a little flour with each and beating until smooth.

4. Throw in the orange blossom water. Stir into the butter mixture, before adding the rest of the flour. Gently mix until combined.

5. Pour half the batter over the base of the cake tin, before placing the apricot and tayberries evenly over the top. Then add the rest of the batter over the top, spread and smooth down with a spatula. Make sure that the fruit is covered by the batter.

6. Sprinkle first the dessicated coconut and then the flaked almonds over the cake, then put in the oven to bake for approx 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.


7. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in its tin for 15 minutes before carefully turning it out onto a wire rack or a plate to cool.

8. Once cool, sift some icing sugar over the top and decorate with some more berries and mint leaves if you like.


9. Serve with a cup of tea and maybe some cream if you're that way inclined.

This cake was idly baked to the sound of Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones

Gluten Free Rhubarb, Ginger & Coconut Crumble Cake

Without hesitation, let me say this is one of the best cakes I've ever made. It tastes sublime, an idle baking must-do for all you crumble and cakeaholics out there. Made with gluten free flours and the first home grown rhubarb of the year, it has a crunchy crumble topping, sweetly tart gingered rhubarb and a soft fluffy base. If you need the cake to be nut as well as gluten free, then simply take out the coconut and replace with more gf flour and sugar. It will be scrumptious either way.

Recipe
My own recipe

Serves 8-10


for the crumble:
85g gluten free plain flour mix (Dove's Farm or M&S recommended)
60g dessicated coconut
85g unsalted butter, cold
85g caster sugar


1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan ovens), and grease and line a deep 20/23cm springform cake tin. To make the crumble, cut the butter into small chunks and using your hands rub it in to the flour, coconut, and sugar in a large bowl until resembling crumbs. Put the crumble to one side.



for the rhubarb:
500-600g rhubarb
1 teaspoon ground or fresh finely chopped ginger
1 or 2 tablespoons caster sugar


2. Cut the rhubarb also into small chunks. Taste it for bitterness, before tossing it in another bowl with the ginger and sugar. If the rhubarb is quite sweet only 1 tablespoon of sugar is needed, but add an extra tablespoon if the fruit is a little bitter.

for the cake base:
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
170g caster sugar
3 eggs
170g gluten free self raising flour mix (Dove's Farm or M&S recommended)
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (Barkart recommended)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon milk


3. To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl for at least 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one by one, followed by a tablespoon of the flour after each addition. Beat well.

5. Next stir in the rest of the flour, baking powder and the ginger.

6. Then add the milk and stir gently until the batter is smooth and well combined.

7. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin, then spoon the rhubarb in its ginger sugar evenly over the top.

8. Finally, tip the crumble topping over the rhubarb until it has covered the top of the cake, and level off. It should come to the top of the baking tin.

9. Place in the oven and bake for approx 1 hour, checking after 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean except for a little rhubarb juice.

10. When done, take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, before placing on a wire rack or plate to cool further.

11. Serve warm, with a dollop of cream.

This cake was idly baked while listening to BBC Radio 4's programme The Listening Project

Sweet Honey Loaf

Forgive the delay in posting, dear readers, I came down with a nasty bug after Easter, and then as soon as I'd recovered it was time to go away on holiday. It seems apt to choose a honey cake as my first bake since illness, for honey has been used for centuries for its antibacterial effect in aiding the body's natural healing. Used in this delicious, sweet and soothing loaf cake, the delicate honey and nuts are a delight for the senses and my own favourite form of medicine.

This recipe makes a cute sized little loaf, ideal when you have less people to feed, or simply fancy feeding yourself very well indeed.

Recipe
Recipe my own. Makes a small 1lb loaf.
Serves 4-6

for the base:
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
110g runny honey
2 eggs, room temperature
75ml milk
125g caster sugar
50g dessicated coconut or ground almonds
150g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
half a teaspoon vanilla or almond extract


1. Turn the oven to 160C (140C fan ovens). Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin.

2. Put the butter and honey in a pan over a hob on a low heat and stir until melted. Pour it into a large bowl.

3. Add the caster sugar and eggs to the bowl. Whisk the mixture for a minute until smooth and starting to bubble. Tip in the vanilla or almond extract, and the dessicated coconut or ground almonds. Stir gently until combined.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder gradually in 2 stages to the batter. Next pour in the milk, and beat the batter until light and smooth.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin, then bake for approx 50 mins. Bake until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

6. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 mins, before taking it out and onto a wire rack or plate to cool fully.

for the icing:
100g icing sugar, sifted
approx 1 and a half tablespoons water
1 teaspoon honey


7. To make the icing, gradually whisk the water and honey into the icing sugar in stages, until the icing is runny but firm and shiny.

8. Drizzle the icing in lines over the loaf, and then leave to set.

9. Serve accompanied with an equally healthy green tea.

This honey loaf was idly baked to the sounds of Laura Marling's double album version of A Creature I Don't Know

Gluten Free Coconut Loaf

This lovely rustic coconut cake is just the thing to accompany a good cup of tea. Go on, let yourself bite into a warm crumbly slice. My favourite kind of country cake: sweet to eat, simple to make.

Recipe

Adapted from a recipe from a tiny book by Marks and Spencer called Easy Baking.

Buy the book online at Marks & Spencer here.

Serves 8

pinch of salt
225g gluten free self raising flour, sifted (Dove's Farm recommended)
115g unsalted butter
115g demerara sugar
100g dessicated coconut, plus extra for decoration
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk

1. Turn oven to 160C (140C fan ovens), and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

2. Combine the sifted flour and salt in a large bowl, and rub in the butter until the mixture is the consistency of breadcrumbs.

3. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the eggs until frothy.

4. Next add the beaten eggs, along with the sugar, coconut and milk, to the flour and butter, stirring gently until combined. If the mixture is too doughy, add a little more milk until it is a dropping consistency.

5. When the batter is ready, spoon it into the prepared loaf tin, and place in the oven for 30 minutes. After this time, quickly take it out and sprinkle more coconut over the top of the cake before placing back in the oven to bake for approximately another 30 minutes. You'll know the cake is done when the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean.

6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before placing on a wire rack to cool further.

7. Eat warm or cold, with your favourite cuppa. We ate ours while watching the bonfire we'd just made. Cake after physical labour tastes fabulous.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Johnny Cash sing American IV: The Man Comes Around

Raspberry, Coconut & Passionfruit Cake

Yesterday I was faced with a cake dilemma. We had more family coming to stay, to join the throng of us already here, and we're all thoroughly overfed by now. What to bake that would be suitably celebratory but taste light and fresh after all the christmas excesses of chocolate and cream, rich fruit cake and spicy gingerbread? In the end I created a simple raspberry and coconut cake with a pretty passionfruit glaze. It is so gorgeous, in both taste and looks, that I've had to hide some to feed friends tomorrow, otherwise my greedy family would have had the lot!

Recipe
Cake base & Passionfruit glaze recipe my own.

Serves 10

200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
2 and a half handfuls of raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and a half handfuls dessicated coconut

1. Turn oven to 180C (160C fan ovens). Grease and line a 20cm round baking tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar by beating thoroughly together.

3. In a large bowl break in the 1st egg, and beat well. Add the 2nd egg, plus the baking powder and a spoon of the sieved flour and beat again. Do the same with the 3rd egg. Finally, fold in the 4th egg along with the rest of the sieved flour and the vanilla extract. Stir until the batter is totally combined.

4. Stir in the dessicated coconut.

5. Roll the raspberries in a little extra flour, before mixing them gently into the batter using a metal or wooden spoon. Be careful not to over mix, just a gentle slow stir once or twice is enough.

6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, smoothing it down with a spatula, and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. You'll know it's done when the skewer comes out clean.

for the passionfruit glaze:
3 passionfruit, pulp scooped out
4 tablespoons of caster sugar
juice of half a lemon


8. When the cake is cool, stir together the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.


9. Add the passionfruit pulp, and place the saucepan over a low heat hob, letting it simmer for about 10 minutes. If the mixture is too thick then add a little water to thin it.


10. Carefully spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Leave it to settle a little for about 15 minutes.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Kate Bush's album 50 Words for Snow

Snowstorm Birthday: Coconut, Ginger & Cherry Cake

I created this gorgeous layer cake for my father's birthday, a variation of the cherry and almond cake I've blogged about before. The addition of glace ginger gives it a particularly festive zinginess, ideal to balance out the gluttonous sweetness of the coconut and glace cherry. A very special and scrumptious cake. Dad loved it, and he certainly wasn't the only one!

Recipe
Cake base adapted from the cake recipe in Joanna Isle's lovely little book from the 1980s, A Proper Tea buy the book on Amazon  
Topping and other additions my own recipe.

For the base:
115g glace cherries
115g glace ginger
200g self-raising flour
pinch of salt (optional)
200g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
50g ground almonds
50g dessicated coconut
200g butter
half a tsp almond extract

1. Turn the oven to 160C (140C fan oven). Grease and line a 23 inch baking tin or two 18 inch tins.

2. Halve the glace cherries and glace ginger and roll them in a little extra flour, before putting them to one side. Rolling them in flour may stop them from all sinking to the bottom of the cake when it's baking (although, being an idle cook, I don't worry about that sort of thing).

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamed.

4. Add the first beaten egg to the creamed mixture, then sieve in a little of the flour and stir gently before adding the other 2 eggs, and the rest of the flour, salt if using, and almond extract a bit at a time.

5. Throw in the cherries, ginger, coconut and ground almonds. Stir the cake mixture gently by hand with a wooden spoon until the fruit and nuts are well combined.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin or tins and bake for approx 50 minutes, until the tops have browned and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in the tins for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack or plate.

for the filling:
4-6 tablespoons cherry jam (I used M&S red cherry conserve)

7. When the cakes have cooled, spread cherry jam over the bottom cake, sandwiching the other cake ontop.

for the topping:
100g icing sugar
2 tablespoons water or coconut milk
3 or 4 large handfuls coconut curls or dessicated coconut
1 large handful glace cherries
1 large handful glace ginger

8. Make glace icing by whisking the water and icing sugar together until a firm but runny consistency. Pour the icing over the top cake, letting it drip down the sides. Quickly scatter coconut over the top cake before the icing dries. Add the glace cherries and ginger to decorate, then sprinkle more coconut on top.

9. Leave for half an hour to let the icing and topping settle, before serving the cake with cream, custard or icecream.

This cake was idly baked while listening to The Velvet Underground & Nico's debut album.

Cherry, Almond & Coconut Cake

At the request of several readers, here's my adaptation of the wonderful old fashioned Cherry & Almond cake that I mentioned in my introduction 'a word on idle baking'. The only cake I knew how to cook until this spring, the one that started me on my idle baking odyssey. Fingers crossed it may inspire you to dip a toe into your own.

Recipe
Serves 8

Adapted from the cake recipe in Joanna Isle's lovely little book from the 1980s, A Proper Tea buy the book on Amazon  
I've simply added coconut and flaked almonds to create a tasty crunchy nutty topping. The topping is adapted from a recipe at http://www.tasteofhome.com 

For the cake:
225g glace cherries
90g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
170g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
90g ground almonds
170g butter
half a tsp almond extract

1. Turn the oven to 160C (140C fan oven). Grease and line a baking tin (anything from 18 inch to 23 inch round tin should work).

2. Halve the glace cherries and roll them in a little extra flour, before putting them to one side. Rolling them in flour may stop them from all sinking to the bottom of the cake when it's baking (although, being an idle cook, I don't worry about that sort of thing).

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamed.

4. Add the first beaten egg to the creamed mixture, then sieve in a little of the flour and stir gently before adding the other 2 eggs, and the rest of the flour, salt, and almond extract a bit at a time.

5. Throw in the cherries, and ground almonds. Stir the cake mixture until the fruit and nuts are well combined into the batter. Don't do what I did this time and absent mindedly put the mixer speed on high, thereby breaking up some of the cherries. Stir them very gently by hand with a wooden spoon instead!

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for approx 1 hour, until the top has browned and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in the tin and put to one side for a moment while you quickly make the topping.

For the topping:

8 and a half tbsps demerara sugar
4 tbsps cold butter, chopped into smallish pieces
4 tbsps flaked almonds
3 tbsps dessicated coconut
extra glace cherries as decoration, optional

7. Mix the sugar and butter in a bowl. I used my fingers to rub them together, but then I like being messy. When the mixture is crumbly, fold in the coconut and almonds.

8. Back at the oven, turn the grill to medium. Spoon the topping onto the hot cake.

9. Carefully place the cake under the grill for 1-2 mins, until the topping is golden brown. Keep checking the cake under the grill - the topping will move from browning to burning very quickly. Alternatively you could place the cake back in the hot oven and continue baking until the topping is done.

10. When the topping is golden brown, take it out from under the grill and leave the cake to cool in its tin for 5 mins, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool for longer before serving. Put a few extra glace cherries ontop of the centre of the cake if you like.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, combined with birdsong and newly hatched grasshoppers jumping in through the open window.