Yet more Neil Young was playing as work commenced on the cake; this time it was his 1980 record Hawks and Doves which is divided into a stunning acoustic side and a less convincing but mildly worthwhile country music side.
The first job was to put eight ounces of self-raising flour and four ounces of margarine into a mixing bowl and stir them together using what is popularly known as the rubbed in method. This contrasts to the more usual approach of making cakes which involves creaming sugar and margarine together and then adding flour to the mixture.
After the flour and margarine were properly mixed together I added four ounces of caster sugar, six ounces of raisins and a tablespoon of orange zest. In order to help these ingredients mix with the flour and margarine I gradually added to the mix two beaten eggs and two tablespoons of milk while stirring the sugar, raisins and orange zest into the flour and margarine.
The addition of the milk helped make the mixture a little lighter and help it rise when cooked in the oven. After I had stirred everything together I poured it into a cake tin that I had lined with greased baking paper. The cake tin was around 10centimetres deep and 25 centimetres wide.
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| The cake mix just prior to putting it in the oven |
I baked the cake in the oven at 170 degrees (180 for non-fan ovens) for about 35 minutes until the sponge had begun to turn golden brown at the edges. I knew the cake was ready as I stuck a meat skewer through the middle of it and it came out clean. I also used the time honoured trick of pressing the sponge and watching it spring back at me; which is always another indication that it has been cooked for the right amount of time.
The results were first rate as the flavour of the orange and raisins combined with a sponge that was substantial but not overly rich made this a cake perfect with a spot of afternoon tea or as pudding after an evening meal.
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| Ready to serve as either a light pudding or with a cup of afternoon tea |
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