Dearest reader.
Precious reader….You know I love ya, right?….
If there’s only one item that you ever, ever think of making from this blog, please, pleeeease let it be this River Cottage golden syrup cake.
Pretty please.
Pretty please with a cherry on the top?
Seriously, it has become my new bezzie mate!
Imagine a cross between an English ‘treacle’ tart (which incidentally is made with golden syrup anyway) and a steamed syrup sponge pudding, but without the palaver of making pastry or steaming for hours…
and you end up with this cake.
Fragrant, delicious, moist…I could go on and on and on….but here’s the recipe instead.
Oh and if you don’t have the River Cottage Handbook – Cakes, yet, please make it your next cookbook purchase. It’s a lovely book, small, but perfectly formed, with lots of colour photographs of the finished cakes, easy to understand instructions.
In short – A must have.
River Cottage Golden Syrup Cake
250g golden syrup
100g butter
150g self-raising flour
half a tsp. bicarb
half a tsp fine sea salt
50g fresh white breadcrumbs
finely grated zest of half a lemon
1 egg
150ml plain yoghurt
1 ltr loaf tin, lightly greased and lined.
Preheat the oven to 180deg. C. (160deg. C Fan oven)
Melt 200g of the golden syrup along with the butter in a saucepan, put to one side to cool down.
Sift the flour, bicarb and salt into a mixing bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer) add the breadcrumbs and the lemon zest.
I veered off course here a little, because believe it or not, I had no fresh lemon at home, but I did have a bitter orange spoon sweet, in a container in the fridge.
Needs must, so I used that instead!
In another bowl beat together the egg and yoghurt, then add to the other ingredients, along with the syrup and butter.
Beat until smooth and glossy.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until golden.
Just before the cake is ready, mix the final 50g of syrup with a tablespoon of just boiled water.
Take the cake out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer and pour the golden syrup over it.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin before turning it out.
Sit back and wait for the compliments to roll in.
They will, trust me.
Recipe adapted from River Cottage Handbook No.8 – Cakes. By Pam Corbin.