Orange and apricot loaf

Yet another version of my favourite bakes -  loaf cakes. I like these cakes because they're quick and easy to make and keep well.

175g dried apricots
150ml orange juice
400g plain flour
175g caster sugar
100g raisins
1/1/2 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn bicarb
1/2 tspn salt
grated rind of 1 orange
1 egg, beaten
25g melted butter of margarine
sugar of choice to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4
Grease a 900g loaf tin

Soak the apricots in the orange juice.
Then put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add the apricots and orange juice, butter, orange rind and the egg and mix it all together. The mixture is very stiff.

Put it into the tin and bake for about an hour till it's golden and firm.

I used golden caster sugar, and only 100g, as 175g seemed a lot. I sprinkled some golden granulated suagr over the mixture in the tin.
Ready to eat with our afternoon cuppa!

The recipe is adapted from a book I've had for ages but not used much - 1000 Cakes and Bakes.

I found it a bit dry, and there wasn't much flavour from the orange juice, so would use a little more liquid next time and maybe some orange essence. An orange flavoured icing drizzled over?
I don't buy raisins often, but they were on offer - need I say more!

I

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Hop Pickers' Cake

When I was in town yesterday, I found a Bank Holiday bric a brac market. I love browsing in case I find old cookery books. To my delight, there was a stall selling nothing but cookery books. Heaven!

I bought 'The National Trust Book of tea-time recipes' [1991], an old red 'Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book', 'Good Housekeeping's Picture Recipe Book [1954] and 'The Baking Book' [1996] by Linda Collister and Anthony Blake. I like Linda Collister's recipes - she wrote the book that went with last year's 'Great British Bake Off'.

I decided today that I want to make some more British cakes, so decided on a 'Kentish Hop Pickers' Cake' from the National Trust book.

I lived in Kent for many years and visited hop farms. This is a lovely photo from an old calendar I had many years ago.

I've adapted the recipe to suit our likes in spices and dried fruit.

275g sr flour

1 tspn ginger

1 tspn cinnamon

175g soft margarine or butter

100g soft brown sugar

100g raisins

100g mixed fruit with peel

400ml milk

1 tbspn black treacle

1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda

1 tspn cream of tartar

Preheat oven 160C/325F/gas 3

Grease a 900g loaf tin

Mix the flour and spices together then rub in the fat.

Add the sugar and the dried fruits and mix.

Warm the milk and the treacle and add to the flour mixture a bit at a time.

Beat this well, then pour it into the tin.

Bake for 1-11/4 hours.

The cake was the texture of my Granny's 'Bread pudding'. All the fruit was at the bottom in a layer. It was a very runny mixture when I put it in the tin. Maybe it's meant to be more of a pudding than a cake? Perhaps it needed more cooking? There are no photos in the book, so I can't tell how it's meant to look!

I've been doing a bit of research, and I found another recipe for this cake on a traditional British cakes site; it says that the cake is much like a lardy cake in texture, so maybe my cake is OK. It tastes good anyway!

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Hot Cross Buns

I've carried on my family's tradition of making 'Hot Cross Buns', using the recipe that my Mum and Granny used.
I still weigh the ingredients in lbs and ozs.

I've not given the recipe here as there are so many similar recipes on the web or in cookbooks or magazines.

Here's one I've also made and it's very good.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/hotcrossbuns_397

I made 24 buns, freezing 12 when cool, before I brushed on the sugar syrup.

                     I love this plate - it's 'Robin' from Emma Bridgewater's  'Birds' series. The buns are covering the robin! Here he is!

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Bara brith

This is my Gran's version of the Welsh teabread. You can also make bara brith [speckled bread] with yeast.

6oz [175g] currants
6oz [175g sultanas]
8oz brown sugar
10fl oz [300ml] very strong tea
10oz [275g] sr flour
1egg

Preheat oven 180C/gas 4/350F

Grease a 2lb [900g] loaf tin

Put the fruit and brown sugar in a bowl and pour over the hot tea. Leave it to soak overnight.
Stir the flour and beaten egg into the fruit mixture and pour into the tin.
Bake for about 1hour and leave to cool in the tin.
Serve as it is or buttered.

I added some cinnamon to the flour, and think next time I'll change some of the fruit for dried cranberries.
I'll also try different flavoured teas and maybe use half white and half wholemeal flour.

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