CAKE!!! And other baked goods…
Now I have your full attention, there are some recipes that have been fuelling us throughout the cross country season that I thought could be good to share as they are rather delicious tin-fillers.
So, should you come over all Mary Berry these might come in useful and by sharing the goods you will be very popular should you ever find yourself in a muddy field surrounded by hungry people!
This recipe is especially for Andrea Culp. It is so simple to make and so well received it feels vaguely fraudulent to pass it off as cake but here is the best fridge cake recipe ever…
200g digestive biscuits
100g butter (plus extra for greasing)
3 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp cocoa powder
50g raisins
100g dark chocolate
Butter an 18cm sandwich tin, seal the biscuits in a strong plastic bag and bash into uneven crumbs with a rolling pin.
Melt the butter and syrup in a pan, stir in the cocoa and raisins, then thoroughly stir in the biscuit crumbs. Spoon into the tin and press down firmly.
Melt the chocolate, spread over the biscuit base and chill for an hour before cutting and sharing.
Apparently these keep for a week if wrapped in foil, in my experience they keep for less than 24 hours in a house with teenagers.
Written by Emma Oughton
This next recipe has proved particularly popular as these cookies are fairly robust, generously sized and contain chocolate – all in all a winning combination.
115g unsalted butter
115g light muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g self-raising flour
75g porridge oats
115g plain chocolate roughly chopped
115g white chocolate roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and grease two baking trays.
Cream the softened butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla essence and beat well.
Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in lightly with a metal spoon, then add the oats and chopped plain and white chocolate and stir until evenly mixed.
Place small spoonful of the mixture in 18 rocky heaps on the prepared sheets leaving space for spreading.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until beginning to turn pale golden. Cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
These last about 10 minutes on average once the tin is opened!
This recipe is a rock solid favourite and found with great frequency in the Oughton cake tin, it is cherry almond loaf cake and is delicious.
200g glace cherries
250g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2-3 drops almond essence
100g ground almonds
6 tablespoons
Preheat the oven 170C/Gas 3. Grease and line a 23x13x7cm loaf tin.
Halve the cherries, wash them in a colander under cold water, pat them dry and toss them in some flour, shaking the excess off thoroughly.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, gradually beat in the eggs and almond essence, then fold in the flour and ground almonds. Fold in the cherries and then the milk spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 3/4-1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave in the tin on a wire rack until completely cooled.
Makes 8-10 slices.