EMILY DICKINSON’S BLACK CAKE

Black Cake - with a chunk taken out :)

This cake features in my forthcoming novel Miss Emily (out July in USA and Canada, August in UK and Ireland) so it was about time I actually made it. In the book Emily makes it for her December birthday and shares it with her Irish maid Ada.

Juno beating the eggs and sugar

Emily's version of this calls for 19 eggs and 5 lbs of currants!! I made a quarter sized version. The finished cake certainly looks black and it tastes more like a plum pudding than cake to me. It's rich and very fruity. I have no clue how Emily baked hers at 120°C in three hours. My much-reduced cake took three hours and forty minutes and still looked a bit moist around the middle.

Treacle marbling the batter - Emily used molasses in her version

I had a lump of it hot from the oven last night - I am looking forward to having a piece today with soya custard or that lovely Alpro Lemon and Lime 'yogurt'.

INGREDIENTS

•           225g self-raising flour

•           225g butter

•           225g sugar

•           half teaspoon baking soda (bread soda in Ireland)

•           quarter teaspoon ground nutmeg

•           1.25 teaspoons total: cloves, mace, cinnamon (or mixed spice)

•           5 eggs

•           550g raisins

•           150g citron (candied peel)

•           150g currants

•           60ml brandy (or whiskey)

•           60ml treacle

METHOD

•           Preheat oven to 120°C

•           Grease and line the bottom of a round baking tin (8”)

•           Sift together flour, bread soda and spices

•           In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar

•           Add eggs one at a time and beating after each one

•           Add brandy (or whiskey), mix well

•           Add flour mixture, mix well.

•           Add treacle and sprinkle in fruit as you stir

•           Pour into greased tin

•           Bake for 2 hours at 120°C

•           Bake for a further 1 hour 30 mins at 160°C then remove cake from tin to cool

•           Store in an air-tight container. Douse with whiskey/brandy once a week.

VEGAN CHRISTMAS CAKE

All the ingredients, ready to go

It's hard to believe it's Christmas cake time again already. I've been making this Rose Elliott-based recipe for years and vegans and non-vegans alike love it - it's a boozy, fruity, moist cake. Absolutely delicious.

Juno mixing and wishing

We made the cake yesterday and Juno (5) said, 'We are celebrating Thanksgiving by making this cake.' Sweet girl.

Finn having a mix and a wish

Get all the ingredients measured out and ready before you begin. It will make the whole thing much easier. We don't ice our cake but it's easy to get vegan marzipan and icing.

Breadcrumbing is serious business

My wishes made while stirring this cake always seem to come true so I am hopeful for this 2014 version too.

The finished cake

Scotch this year (again!) instead of brandy.

INGREDIENTS:

350 gr wholegrain spelt flour

175gr vegan marg

175gr light muscovado sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

150gr sultanas

200gr raisins

150gr dates, halved & pitted

50 gr flaked almonds

1 tblsp treacle

100gr glacé cherries, halved

grated zest of an orange

2 tblsps ground almonds

120ml soya milk

2 tblsps red wine vinegar

¾ tsp of bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

6 tblsps (90ml) brandy/whiskey

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 150˚C

• Grease an 8” cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Make an outer 'lining' with a higher cuff to stop the top of the cake burning.

• Sieve the flour and spice

• Rub in the marg until the mix is like breadcrumbs

• Stir in the flaked almonds and treacle

• Add the sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange zest and ground almonds and mix

• Warm half the soya milk in a small pot and add the vinegar

• Dissolve the bread soda in the rest of the soya milk, then add

this to the milk and vinegar mix

• Stir this into flour and fruit mix until well combined

• Spoon mix into greased tin and smooth the top

• Bake for 2 hours, until a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean

• Leave cake in tin to cool, then turn out and peel off greaseproof

• Prick cake with a cocktail stick and feed with a third of the brandy

• Wrap cake in greaseproof and store in a tin

• Feed with the rest of the brandy/whiskey at weekly intervals

• Will keep for 4 weeks or so

Nollaig shona! Merry Christmas!

GREAT IRISH BAKE - DAY 3 - SPELT FRUIT CAKE

Happy Great Irish Bake Day!

My recipe tin

For the day itself, I decided to do my favourite of all my cake recipes. It is quick and simple and turns out perfectly every time for me. This is made with spelt flour which has less gluten than regular flour. I used a luxury fruit mix, but ordinary raisins or sultanas work just as well. I love to eat a warm, fresh slice of this, but it is also great cold with butter.

Juno with the Spelt Fruit Cake

As you can see, I sprinkled flaked almonds over the cake before putting it in the oven, but only because I have a pack open. They are completely optional.

The fruit studded inside of the cake

RECIPE

180ml tea
250g mixed fruit
100g brown sugar
1 beaten egg
25g melted marg
255g wholegrain spelt flour
1tsp bread soda
1 tsp mixed spice
a handful of flaked almonds (optional)

METHOD

- Soak the fruit, sugar and tea in a bowl - leave until cold
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Line a 2lb loaf tin
- Add the melted marg to the fruit mix. Stir through.
- Add the beaten egg. Stir through.
- Sieve then fold in the flour, bread soda and spice
- Pour into the lined tin & sprinkle over almonds (if using)
- Bake for 55 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean
- Cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack

VEGAN OAT APPLE CAKE

This cake screams good health and a slice makes a great snack. It's sugar free too! Mine turned out a tad crumbly (again!) but is still delish.

Preheat the oven to 190 C

3 apples, peeled & chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled & grated
60g chopped walnuts
120ml veg oil (rape or sunflower)
100g raisins
150g plain flour
80g porridge oats
1 tsp vanilla essence
30ml soya milk

Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin
Sieve the flour into a large bowl
Mix in the porridge oats
Mix in the apples, walnuts, carrot & raisins
Add the soya milk and vanilla essence and stir
Mix in the veg oil
Spoon into the tin and bake for one hour
Cool in the tin before turning out

This is lovely plain or with a blob of soya dessert.

LIGHT WALNUT & RAISIN CAKE

This is a lighter, less sugar- and fruit-heavy version of a previous cake I posted here. It uses golden syrup instead of treacle and gives a nice light-coloured, sweet loaf. Spread with vegan marg - the way we Irish eat brack - or eat plain with a hot cup of tea. Lovely!


INGREDIENTS:

225gr of self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 1 beaten egg for non vegans)
1½ tablespoons of golden syrup
200mls of soya milk
50gr of light brown sugar
200gr of raisins or dates and raisins
100gr walnuts
30gr flaked almonds

METHOD:


o Preheat the oven to 160˚C
o Grease a 2lb loaf tin
o Sieve the flour and spice, mix in sugar, dried fruits and walnuts
o Heat the soya milk and the golden syrup gently until they are thoroughly combined, but be careful not to over heat.
o Mix the NoEgg mix (or beaten egg) into the treacle and milk. Then mix this mixture into the dry ingredients
o Put the mixture into the loaf tin. Gently shake to flatten the top
o Sprinkle with the flaked almonds
o Bake for an hour and ten minutes in the top of the oven.