A year of cake - The new Clandestine cake club recipe book

Proud to say that we have a recipe in the new Clandestine Cake Club recipe book. A Year of Cake - features 100 new recipes from the club including my recipe for a scrummy gluten free treat of Buckwheat, carrot and sultana cake, with a fresh orange buttercream.

A delicious recipe if I do say so myself , I will be baking this cake for the celebration book launch we are holding at Ebb and Flo Books in Chorley on Saturday 12th September 2015, at 2pm.

The book is also currently on special offer on Amazon for the bargain price of £10 and apparently is already on reprint due to the volume of pre orders.

Golden Italian Christmas Cake

This year I fancied making a Christmas Cake with a difference, in previous years I have tried a chocolate fruit cake (very good Nigella recipe), a boil and bake fruit and mincemeat cakes as well as the more traditional style. As I love Italian food I thought I would make a cake with Italian flavours, think Amaretto, panettone et al. It became a golden cake as I manged to purchase some golden raisins, this fired my imagination to create a golden fruit cake.

On Stir up Sunday I made this cake alongside a tweet up with the National Trust and lots of other cakey bakey people. As you can see from the picture the cake is lighter in colour than a normal Christmas fruit cake, I will now store the cake for a couple of weeks, lovingly feeding it with Amaretto until its time to decorate. My plans this year are for a naked Christmas cake, filled with Golden Marzipan and topped off with more Golden marzipan and fondant with some simple decorations.

What you need

• 300g Golden Raisins 
• 300g Sultanas
• 100g dried figs (chopped and any hard stalks removed)
• 100g apricots (chopped)
• 150ml Amaretto
• Zest of 1 large orange
• 125g butter (softened) or baking margarine if you want diary free
• 200g Light brown sugar
• 2 eggs - free range
• 200g Self raising flour
• 75g Honey
• 2 tsp mixed spices
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 130g candied orange peel - chopped (buy quality)
• 1/2 tsp Aroma Panettone Essential Oil (Bakery Bits)

I used an 8" double lined round loose bottomed cake tin, I also wrapped the outside with more greaseproof paper (you could use card, brown paper or even newspaper also), tied with string.

                                       

What you do 

• Place all the dried fruit and orange zest in a large bowl with the amaretto to soak overnight (if you forget you can microwave for a few minutes and allow to cool), covered with clingfilm.

                                   

• Preheat the oven to 130c fan / 150c normal and prepare your tin
• In a stand mixer blend the butter and sugar until light an fluffy
• Gradually add the eggs, essential oil and vanilla to the mixer, if in danger of curdling add some of the flour
• Next whisk in the honey and then sieve in the flour and spices
• Fold the flour and dried fruit into the mixture until thoroughly mixed, spoon into the prepared tin.
• Smooth the top and place in the oven
• Bake for 2 hrs 30 minutes to 3 hrs 15 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Mine took about 3 hours in a fan oven
• Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack, remove from tin whilst still a little warm. Store when cold double wrapped in parchment and clingfilm.
• Remember to feed by pricking the cake lightly and spooning over more amaretto.

I plan another post when its time to decorate, so make sure you follow us for an update in a few weeks.

Mincemeat and Sultana Muffins

Another lovely recipe to use your homemade mincemeat, these muffins are delicious and well flavoured, a real tea time treat and a great substitute to the traditional mince pie that is normally left out for Father Christmas on Christmas eve.

It's basically an all in muffin recipe and you can use any dried fruit you fancy, apricots, cranberries, I think raisins would all work really well but I chose sultanas this time round. I  used my homemade sloe vodka mincemeat from an earlier post but you could use ready made. 

Ingredients

• 80g Sultanas or other dried fruit ( if you use apricots chop into small pieces)
• 280g Plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 90ml sunflower oil
• 350g mincemeat , good half of a large jar
• 1 egg - free range beaten
• 240ml milk
• 85g caster sugar

12 -14 large muffin cases, muffin tray

Method

Preheat your oven to 180c fan, 190c normal oven. 
Sift all you dry ingredients in to your  bowl, 
Add all the other ingredients (except the dried fruit element), 
Mix very gingerly until incorporated and then add the dried fruit, 
Quickly fold this in until all the flour is just incorporated ( do not over mix) 
Spoon into your cases and bake for approximately 20 -25 minutes, tested with a cocktail stick. Cool on a wire tray and sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Sultana slab - a great traybake

I am entering this tray bake in Ruth "The Pink Whisks" Traybake challenge, Ruth was a finalist in 2010 series of the "Great British Bake Off" and has gone on to host a fabulous baking blog. I made this bake for Children in Need.

Ingredients

• 450g sultanas
• 3 eggs - free range please
• 350g Sugar
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 225g butter
• 350g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Approx 8 by 12 inch roasting tin / tray bake tin

Method

Preheat your oven to 160c, grease / oil your tin, I use oil spray to make things easy. Place your sultanas in a large pan and cover with water, bring to the boil and gently simmer for approximately 15 minutes until your sultanas are plump and juicy. Meanwhile in another bowl mix the eggs, sugar and almond extract. 

Drain the sultanas and put them back in the pan along with the butter to melt with the residual heat, if they need any help just put on a low heat, until all the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and allow to col slightly. Now add the egg mixture and then the flour and baking powder, mix thoroughly. Pour into your prepared tin. Bake for approx 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Cool in the tin and when cool cut into slabs, hence the name. Keeps well and will also freeze.

http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2011/11/tpw-november-challenge.html#more-1722

Pear, cardamon and sultana cake

My lovely friend Jo, delivered a huge carrier bag of pears from her garden this week so I have been scouting about for recipes to use my bounty. Pear chutney is planned but in the meantime I came across a recipe for this cake. Well you know me and cakes, so hear goes.

Ingredients

• 125g butter, soft
• 125g light brown sugar
• 2 eggs free range, lightly beaten
• 250g Self raising flour, sifted
• 1 tsp ground cardamon
• 4 tbsp milk
• 500g pears, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 125g sultanas

Method

Beat the butter and sugar together in a food mixer until pale and fluffy, Continue beating in slowly the eggs, add a little of the flour if it looks like it will curdle. Stop the mixer and add the rest of the flour, cardamon and milk, quickly blend and then add the pears and sultanas to give a chunky cake mix. 

Spoon the mixture in a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin, bake in a preheated oven @ 160c for approximately 1 1/2 hours until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool initially in the tin and then turn out to cool fully on wire rack.

Store in an airtight tin if it lasts that long. The result is a deliciously moist softly fruity cake. 

Sugarless Sultana Cake

Keeping with the theme of healthy eating, the ultimate recipe is healthy cake. I first discovered this recipe about 15 years ago when my Father in law was diagnosed with Diabetes. Despite containing no added sugar, wholemeal flour and low fat spread it is surprisingly good.

Ingredients

• 8oz sultanas
• 1/2pt orange juice
• 30z low fat margarine
• 8oz wholemeal self raising flour
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 2 eggs - free range

Method

Oven @ 180C

Using a 6 inch square cake tin, grease and line. Soak the sultanas in orange juice overnight. Rub the margarine into the flour and spice mix and then mix in the eggs and the orange juice and sultanas. Mix thoroughly and turn into the prepared tin, levelling the top. Bake for approximately 1 and a half hours, testing with a skewer to see if ready. You may need to cover the cake with foil if browning too quickly. Cool on a rack, the cake stores well and improves after a couple of days.