Geoff Scott winter cakes
Rich winter cakes that double as dessert
When I was small I used to love lifting the cake tin lid to see what delicious baking my mother had been up to. I still get a kick out of going to the pantry to see whether there is any home baking, and a rich winter cake is always a winner. A cake has something more luxurious — a bit more gourmet — than just cookies or biscuits. These three cakes are all suitable for a morning or afternoon tea treat, and can double as dessert too.
Sultana and spiced apple cake
This cake is an old-fashioned classic and a favourite. It stores, slices and eats really well. I like to use Granny Smith or Braeburn apples for their acidity. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar.
1 ½ cups sultanas
225g butter
340g sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
340g flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 apples, peeled, cored & chopped into 2cm dice
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ginger
1 Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 23cm round cake tin.
2 Place the sultanas in a small pot and cover with 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil, simmer for 3 minutes then remove from heat, cool then drain (and discard cooking water).
3 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat well.
4 Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Toss the apples with the spices then stir these into the cake mix along with the sultanas.
5 Pour into the tin and bake for 60 minutes or until the cake is golden. Test by inserting a skewer; it should come out clean and hot.
Rhubarb and walnut crumble cake
This cake is delicious warm or cold. If you can’t find rhubarb, simply peel and roughly chop some pears — they work superbly. The perfect accompaniment for this cake is a bowl of lightly whipped cream (either with or without a little icing sugar), with a dash of vanilla and a good sprinkling of cinnamon.
125g butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
3 rhubarb stalks sliced into 2cm pieces
Walnut crumble
1 Tbsp butter
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
1 Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 23cm round cake tin.
2 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well, mix in the flour.
3 Add the lemon juice to the milk, then add in the baking soda.
4 Mix everything until well combined then fold through the rhubarb and pour into the tin.
5 For the crumble, melt the butter in a small saucepan then stir in the sugar and cinnamon, mix until well combined.
6 Carefully spoon on top of the cake, covering evenly, and sprinkle walnuts over the top.
7 Bake for 45-60 minutes until the cake is cooked, or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Apricot, prune and coconut cake
The secret to this cake is the lovely chewy coconut topping. Because there is no creaming of the butter and sugar it’s very quick and easy to make. Serve “au naturel” or with yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.
1 cup hot water
1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup coarsely chopped
dried apricots ¾ cup coarsely chopped prunes
60g butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
Coconut topping 60g butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin.
2 Mix the water, baking soda, apricots and prunes together and leave to soften for 5 minutes.
3 Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth.
4 Add flour and baking powder then stir through the prune and apricot mix.
5 Pour into the tin and bake for 35 minutes. The top should be just set.
6 Meanwhile place all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan and melt together over a low heat.
7 Pour the topping carefully over the hot cake and put it back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.