Thursday, March 3, 2016

"A nice cup of tea and a slice of cake please" ~~~~~~~~


The latest new cake recipe I've tried out is a true keeper. 
I love a cake with a dense crumb - one which ages well, even gets
 better with age. . . . . . .  if you don't gobble it up too quickly. 



Like most Brits, I absolutely love coarse cut English or Scotch
 marmalade, especially those made from Seville oranges which are 
slightly bitter. Thick, not runny, with real chunks of peel, and much less
 sugar than American-made marmalade.

Table runner from SuzAnna's Antiques 

Marmalade Tea Cake

1 1/2 sticks/175g soft butter
3/4 cup/175g granulated sugar 
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups/170g all-purpose white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup/90g dried raisins
Zest from one orange
2 Tblsps orange juice
2 Tblsps Cointreau liqueur 
1/4 cup/75g thick cut marmalade

Icing ~
Powdered confectioner's sugar
Fresh orange or lemon juice 

Preheat oven to 350F - butter and line bottom of an 81/2 X 41/2 loaf pan with parchment.

Finely grate zest from the orange and set aside, then squeeze juice from orange.
Place raisins in small saucepan, add orange juice and Cointreau. Warm mixture over low heat then stir in zest and marmalade, set aside to cool.

In mixer bowl cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until very light, about 5 mins.
Scrape down bowl and add eggs one at a time on medium low, mix in vanilla extract and scrape bowl again. 

To aerate, sieve flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl then add to batter in mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until just combined. Add raisin mixture and beat slowly for a few seconds until mixed in. Remove bowl and scrape down with a spatula and complete mixing by hand until fruit is incorporated, but do not overbeat.

Place batter into prepared pan smoothing the top. Bake 40-45 minutes until golden brown and tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 mins. on a rack, invert to remove from pan and place on rack to finish cooling.

To ice - in a small bowl, combine about 1 cup of powdered sugar and a small pinch of salt with enough fresh squeezed orange or lemon juice, and stir until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over the cake when cooled. 


My vintage marmalade crocks - I need to find more!




18 comments:

  1. That looks wonderful. Mary It's on my 'to do' list. I can find wonderful marmalades and jams at the Dutch corner store on my road.

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  2. I love this type of cake as well. This sounds amazing, I can't wait to try it and put any dried up leftovers in a trifle. Bon weekend! ~ebh

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  3. I have never seen a vintage marmelade crock. Those are adorable! The cake sounds wonderful.

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  4. Delicious Mary and SO British !!!! I LOVE your marmalade pots .... I have a few but I must look out for more. XXXX

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  5. Oh my goodness but that sounds delicious. I love a cake that is dense and not too, too sweet. A good pound cake is a thing of beauty! Thank you for the recipe. I will give it a try as it looks quite to my taste!

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  6. The recipe sounds delicious! Love your marmalade collection. Have a lovely day, Mary!

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  7. This cake looks amazing and your photos are SUPER stunning. Michael would devour this cake at teatime. hee hee Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll have to try it sometime. :)

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  8. It looks absolutely gorgeous. My boss brought me back some Seville marmalade once. Yummo!

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  9. Mary, this cake is making me wish for a slice of something sweet. ;-)
    I stopped into an antique shop after lunch with a friend yesterday. I walked out with purchases of a few treasures, and among them was a vintage Scottish Grey Beard Scotch Whisky crock. It has a great graphic on the front. Though the opening is narrow, it will hold a stem or two. ;-)

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  10. I have one marmalade jar, but would love some crocks. The cake sounds just wonderful. It is the sort of cake I love with tea.

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  11. This looks like such a delicious cake! I do love marmalade and usually purchase the Bonne Maman stuff if I see it here. Thanks for the recipe!

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  12. So beautiful. Like you, the denser the better. Love all the creams.

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  13. Oh my goodness! That looks SO GOOD!!! And I love the crocks.
    xo
    Lynn

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  14. OH my - that sounds so good. The photos are grand. We've found a marmalade that is less sugar than most that we've come across, it has a great taste of orange - not just of sugar. I think it would be perfect for the cake.

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  15. Dear Mary, Your tea cake looks delicious. Thank you for including American measurements. Your photos are mouth watering.

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  16. Oh Mary, I know I will have to make this cake over the weekend!
    Like you I love marmalade made from Seville oranges too, it's pure deliciousness!
    The Dundee is my choice with plenty of chunky rind!
    There's something about food and getting older, I don't settle for ordinary any more it has the be the real McCoy!
    Love
    Shane

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  17. Oh my gosh, maybe my favourite post yet of yours, Mary. utterly divine looking and then whilst reading the recipe, especially how to make the drizzle, I couldn't help but feel like i was salivating/drooling even more! There are so many exceptional looking dishes and recipes out there (as evidenced by my "cakes" Pinterest board alone but I never seem to get to making any of them. However, THIS one MUST be tried, in part b/c I feel I know you some and can trust your good judgment. I am sooo going to make this and offer it to some people we know who could do with a perfect booster like this. Thank you. I LOVE it

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  18. P.S. I've even taken a screen capture of your recipe and the pic, keeping it on my desktop to remind me to try this! I Love baking even though not done nearly enough. The best thing I make? My own version of this slightly lemon half whole wheat shortbread. It jsut melts in one's mouth. Mmmm...

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