New Blackmore Vale, August 6, 2021
Food & Drink
Cooking...
with Mrs Simkins
Jam and Coconut Sponge Here’s an old favourite: a blast from the past for some of us, who may remember something similar for a much-anticipated pudding after the usual grisly school dinner first course. Sometimes it might be served with ‘normal’ custard, sometimes with pink. Although still a lovely oldfashioned pudding, it makes a very nice cake with a cup of tea. Raspberry jam works best: raspberry and coconut are always perfect partners. Ingredients Cuts into 16 squares 110g (4oz) salted butter, softened 175g (6oz) sugar (golden caster works well) 225g (8oz) plain flour 2 level teaspoons baking powder 2 medium-large eggs 4 tablespoons milk Approximately 50g (2oz) desiccated coconut
A little less than half an average jar of sieved (or seedless) raspberry jam Method Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan oven) gas mark 4 or equivalent You will need an 20cm (8 inch) greased brownie tin or similar, the bottom lined with greaseproof paper, cut to fit Use your usual creaming and cake mixing method or whiz
Mum’s Kitchen...
up in a food processor as below. Whiz the butter and sugar together. Combine the flour and baking powder and sieve half over the top. Add the eggs and remaining flour. Whiz briefly, add milk and whiz together until smooth but not over-mixed. Pour into the prepared tin, easing it into the corners and smoothing the top level. Bake for 25 minutes or until
38
fan). Grease and line a 22cm x 8cm deep round cake tin or similar. Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one by one and add the grated orange zest
n MrsSimkins.co.uk n twitter.com/ MrsSimkinsCooks n email: info@ MrsSimkins.co.uk
with Diana Holman
Carrot and Orange Cake Ingredients: 250g butter, softened 250g light soft brown sugar 5 large eggs, separated Grated zest and juice of one orange 170g self-raising flour 1 slightly heaped teaspoon baking powder 100g ground almonds 100g shelled walnuts 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 pink ground cloves 1 pinch ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground ginger 250g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated Method: Preheat oven to 180C (160C
golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Whilst still warm spread the top with a liberal amount of jam and sprinkle thickly with desiccated coconut. Leave to cool, cut into squares, and put the kettle on.
and juice. Stir in sifted flour and baking powder, and add the ground almonds, walnuts, spices and grated carrot and mix together well. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg
whites until stiff, and then gently fold them into the cake mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and cook for about 50 minutes until golden and risen, or until a knife or cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin to cool before turning out onto a racik. This makes a lovely cake to serve just as it is, but if you want to make it extra decadent and luxurious, you can make an icing by mixing together 100g mascarpone cheese, 200g full fat cream cheese, 85g sifted icing sugar, and the grated zest and juice of 2 limes. Spread this generously over the top of the cake.
