Category: Cake

Coffee Tort

  • I wanted to make a coffee tort using strong ground coffee rather than instant.
  • I think my mother used Camp Coffee – concentrated syrup flavoured with coffee and chicory.
  • It was first produced in 1876 by S. Paterson & Sons Ltd in Glasgow.
  • Camp Coffee is still made today and used mainly in home baking.
  • I made two sponge cakes with the method of weighing the eggs in their shells and then weighing the same amounts of butter, caster sugar and plain flour.
  • I made a 2 egg  version but you can easily make a bigger cake and adjust the ingredients and cake tin sizes.
  • You can make more butter cream to cover the sides.

Ingredients – Cake

  • 2 eggs
  • Equal weights of – 
  • -Butter
  • -Caster sugar
  • -Plain flour
  • 2½ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon of strong coffee
  • *
  • 125ml strong coffee & 2 tablespoons of sugar – mixed so the sugar dissolves
  • * you can use a larger volume of coffee- say 180ml or even 250ml – adjust the sugar

Method – Cake

  • Line the bases of 2 x 18cm diameter sandwich tins.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Mix the flour with the baking powder.
  • Cream the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
  • Beat in the coffee.
  • Beat in the eggs – one by one.
  • Fold in the flour.
  • Divide the mixture between the two tins.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 mins.
  • Leave to cool in the tins on a baking rack.

Ingredients –  Butter Cream

  • 100g butter
  • 200g icing sugar – more may be needed
  • 3 tablespoons strong coffee

Method – Butter Cream

  • Cream the butter with half of the icing sugar.
  • Mix in and cream the coffee.
  • Add the rest of the icing sugar, bit by bit until you have the consistency you require. 

Assembling the tort

  • Place one of the two cakes on a flat cake plate.
  • Use half the coffee and sugar mixture and spoon it over the cake.
  • Spread half the butter cream over the cake.
  • Put the second cake over the butter cream.
  • Use the rest of the coffee and sugar mixture over the top.
  • Spread the rest of the butter cream over the top.
  • Using a pointed spatula, make a pattern in the butter cream.
  • Vintage cake stand on a central chrome/steel foot
  • Tea plate – Crown bone china

Honey Cake – Miodownik 4

  • This is based on an old English recipe and is a bit lighter than my other Polish honey cakes.
  • There are no spices in the original recipe but you can of course add them.

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 150ml honey
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 2 eggs – beaten
  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180 C.
  • Grease and line a 26 x 16cm baking tin.
  • In a saucepan gently melt the butter and sugar.
  • Add the honey and stir.
  • Add the milk and stir again.
  • Leave to cool.
  • Mix in the eggs.
  • Mix the baking powder with the flour.
  • Add the flour to the mixture to give a smooth batter.
  • Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
  • Check that the top is not burning and cover with baking paper if necessary.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Crown bone china tea plate

Pineapple & Coconut Cake

  • I came across this recipe ages ago but have only just had a chance to make it.
  • The original recipe used a small tin of pineapples, which I have not seen for a while.
  • I used part of a larger tin, which meant I had pineapples left to just eat or use in another dish.
  • The original recipe was baked in a loaf tin, which would have made it a keks.
  • However I think it is best in a flat rectangular tin – so maybe this is a placek!

Ingredients

  • 150g plain flour
  • 1½ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 110g butter
  • 75g granulated sugar
  • 50g & 1 tablespoon of desiccated coconut
  • 2 eggs – beaten
  • 120g tinned pineapples – drained and chopped 
  • 75g sultanas or raisins
  • *
  • 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 5 tablespoons of pineapple juice

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM5 – 190°C.
  • Drain the pineapples, reserve the juice.
  • Weigh out the 120g of pineapples and chop these up into small pieces.
  • Grease and line a 26 x 16cm baking tin.
  • Mix together the flour and the baking powder.
  • Rub in the butter till the mixture is like breadcrumbs.
  • Stir in the sugar and the 50g of coconut.
  • Mix in the eggs.
  • Mix in the pineapples.
  • Mix in the sultanas.
  • Put the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Scatter the tablespoon of coconut over the top.
  • Bake for 25-30minutes.
  • *
  • Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar and pineapple juice together.
  • *
  • Spoon the juice mixture evenly over the top of the cake as soon as you get it out of the oven.
  • Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Royal Doulton Carnation tea plate

Courgette Cake – Version 2

  • I wanted to bake a courgette cake as I have made before but found I had spelt flour to use up soon and dried cranberries.
  • Also I did not have any hazelnuts.
  • So I made a variation of this well loved cake.
  • It would be called a keks in Polish – a light fruit loaf.

Ingredients – Cake

  • 150g spelt flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
  • 150g of light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
  • 150g of sultanas
  • 150g of dried cranberries
  • 100g of finely cut chopped walnuts
  • 1 medium size courgette coarse grated
  • 3 eggs
  • 125ml of sunflower oil

Ingredients – Lemon Icing

  • Fine grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 150g of icing sugar

Method – Cake

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180°C
  • I used a continental style long loaf tin, greased it  and used a single sheet of grease proof paper  to line the long sides and the base.
  • Mix together the flour, salt, sugars and cinnamon, making sure that any lumps in the brown sugar are all pressed out.
  • Mix together the sultanas, dried courgettes, nuts and the courgette.
  • Lightly whisk the eggs and oil together.
  • Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly together with a wooden spoon.
  • Add the courgette mixture and mix well in.
  • Place the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 50 – 55 minutes – check after 40 minutes and cover the top with greaseproof or foil if browning too much before it is baked through.
  • Leave to cool before icing.

Method – Icing

  • Place the icing sugar in a bowl and add the grated lemon zest.
  • Mix in the lemon juice until you have a thick icing.
  • You might have to adjust the thickness with  more lemon juice (or water) or with icing sugar.
  • Put the icing on the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.
Crown bone china tea plate

Chocolate Roll

  • This cake would be called a rolada in Polish.
  • The baking of this is simple – the hardest part is adding the filling and rolling it back together.
  • You can make many versions of this with different fillings.
  • Here I have used a sour cherry jam layer and a sweet curd or cream cheese layer on top.

Ingredients – Cake

  • 2 eggs
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 50g Plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • *
  • extra sugar for rolling

Ingredients – Filling

  • Sour Cherry Jam & a little water
  • *
  • 150-200g  yoghurt cheese or cream cheese
  • 1-2 tablespoons of soured cream
  • Icing sugar to taste

Method – Cake

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 7 – 220°C.
  • Grease and line a 24 x 34cm baking sheet.
  • *
  • Have ready 2 more sheets of baking paper.
  • Lay one of these flat and sprinkle with caster sugar.
  • *
  • Whisk the eggs and sugar until light, pale and fluffy.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa together till uniform.
  • Fold in the flour mixture with a metal spoon.
  • Spread the mixture over the prepared tin with a spatula –
  • Getting to all the edges as nearly as possible.
  • Bake for 7- 8 minutes.
  • DO NOT OVERBAKE or it will crack later.
  • Take out the cake and tip it onto the sugared paper.
  • Peel off the paper which was under the cake.
  • Using a metal spatula can be helpful.
  • Put the third sheet of baking paper on top of the cake.
  • Roll up the cake from the narrow end with the paper inside.
  • Leave the cake to cool completely.

Method – Filling

  • Use a small saucepan to thin down the jam by adding a little water, mixing and heating it gently.
  • Leave to cool completely.
  • *
  • Mix the cheese ingredients to taste.
  • You want a soft spreadable mixture.

Assembling the cake

  • Unroll the cake gently and flatten a little.
  • Spread on the jam over the whole cake.
  • Spread on the sweet cheese mixture over the jam.
  • Roll up the cake again.
  • Leave in a cool place for about an hour before serving.
  • Serve as thick slices
  • *
  • Can taste even better the next day as the jam seeps into the cake.
  • Served on Royal Doulton – Flirtation from the late 1970s.

You can try this with a variety of options with different jams and flavours for the sweet cheese. 

No Bake Chocolate Cake

  • My mother would often make this and I liked to help as it was easy – there was no baking required.
  • She would use plain biscuits such as:  Morning Coffee, Petit Beurre or Rich Tea.
  • These are called herbatniki – (biscuits to go with a drink of tea) – in Poland.
  • The biscuits were roughly crushed using a potato masher – they do not want to be too small.
  • Chocolate, butter and sugar are melted together and the biscuits are added.
  • My mother would press this into a square or rectangular tin, which was well buttered and lined.
  • This was then easy top cut up into small cubes or rectangles.
  • You can make make this in a small (15 cm) circular, loose bottomed tin and pour a chocolate glaze or icing over this.
  • With the given proportions it is easy to double-up etc to make a large cake or a two tiered cake.
  • *
  • I had always thought of this as a Polish recipe but have read recently that the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge had a similar one as one of their wedding cakes.
  • Also I have read that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II enjoys this cake too.

Ingredients

  • 180g biscuits
  • 90g butter
  • 180g dark and milk chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Method

  • Butter and line a small rectangle 27 x 18 cm tin.
  • Crush half of the biscuits finely.
  • Roughly crush the other half of the biscuits.
  • Melt the chocolate in a bowl over some boiling water.
  • Add the butter and mix.
  • Add the water and mix
  • Mix  in the biscuits till they are all coated.
  • Press into the prepared and flatten the top with a wooden spoon.
  • Leave in a cool place or refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Crown Devon – Du Barry Cake Stand – 1930s.

Coconut Meringue Cake

  • As I  said in my coconut macaroons recipe, my mother did not use coconut in her baking.
  • This is an English recipe that I have made for years.
  • Egg yolks are used in the cake base and whites in the topping.
  • The egg whites are whisked till stiff but then the sugar and coconut are just folded in.

Ingredients

  • BASE
  • 75g butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 175g plain flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 2-3 drops vanilla essence
  • TOPPING
  • 2 egg whites
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 50g desiccated coconut

Method

  • Grease and line a 26 x 20cm baking tin.
  • Preheat the oven to GM3 – 160°C.
  • Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy
  • Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla essence and milk.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  • Fold the flour mixture to the creamed mixture.
  • Spread this over the base of the tin.
  • *
  • Whisk the egg whites stiffly.
  • Fold in the sugar and coconut.
  • Spread this mixture over the cake base.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.
  • Cut into slices when cool.
Stardust by Colclough Tea Plate

Date & Walnut Cake

  • This cake is not really a Polish recipe but it is well liked in my family.
  • The instructions for the original recipe said to make this in a large loaf tin.
  • However I think it is much better baked as a round cake.

Ingredients

  • 225g dried dates
  • Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
  • 150ml of boiling water
  • *
  • 75g butter
  • 75g granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 225g plain flour
  • 2½ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 75g of walnuts- chopped

Method

  • Grease and line a 20cm circular tin – or use a cake liner.
  • Chop the dates and put them into a bowl.
  • Add the bicarbonate of soda.
  • Pour on the boiling water and mix.
  • Leave till cool.
  • *
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C
  • Cream the butter and sugar.
  • Beat in the eggs.
  • Mix the baking powder with the flour and stir this in.
  • Stir in the walnuts.
  • Stir in the dates.
  • Mix well together.
  • Spoon into the baking tin – smooth the top with a wooden spoon.
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes
  • Leave to cool in the tin.
Lyndale by Royal Standard from the 1950s

Earl Grey Cake

  • Earl Grey Tea is black tea flavoured with oil of bergamot.
  • Legend has it that the secret recipe was given to Earl Grey by the Chinese.
  • However he never visited China, though he might have received it as a diplomatic present.
  • Who was Earl Grey?
  • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764 – 1845) was a Member of Parliament for Northumberland.
  • He was British Prime Minister from 1830-1834.
  • Two important Acts of Parliament were passed during his time as Prime Minister:
  • 1832 Reform Act
  • 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.
  • The earliest mention of Earl Grey Tea appears to be in the 1850s, several years after his death.
  • *
  • This cake is called a Tea Bread in England and is a cake made using tea.
  • Using Earl Grey Tea makes most recipes even tastier.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon of loose leaf Earl Grey Tea
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • *
  • 300g sultanas
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • *
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 280g plain flour
  • 2½ teaspoons baking powder
  • *
  • Icing sugar to dust

Method

  • Grease and line a 23 cm circular cake tin or use a cake liner.
  • Pour the boiling water over the tea leaves and leave for 3 minutes.
  • Put the honey and sultanas into a bowl
  • Strain the tea leaves and pour the tea over the sultanas and honey.
  • Stir and leave for 3 hours.
  • *
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C
  • Strain the fruit but also keep the liquor.
  • Whisk sugar and eggs till pale, thick and creamy.
  • Mix the flour and baking powder together.
  • Stir in the drained fruit, zest and flour.
  • Add the rest of the tea liquor and mix well.
  • Spoon the mixture into the baking tin.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
  • Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning it out.
  • Leave to cool on a baking rack.
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve.

 

Stardust by Colclough Tea Plate
Royal Crown Derby Tea Strainer

Iced Orange Yoghurt Cake

  • I have been looking for a good recipe, which uses yoghurt but not always with much success.
  • I came across this one for a lemon yoghurt cake the other week and tried it out. 
  • The texture was good and I thought  –  why not try an orange version.
  • I learnt a tip, which was to add the orange rind to the sugar for about 30 minutes – this adds to the flavour.

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 large orange
  • 185ml of Greek style yoghurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 120ml sunflower oil
  • Large pinch of salt

Method

  • Add the zest to the sugar and leave for about 30 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180ºC.
  • Use a loaf liner to line a 2 lb loaf tin.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  • Add the yoghurt and eggs to the sugar mixture.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well.
  • Add the oil and mix well again.
  • Pour the batter into the loaf tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for around 40 to 45 minutes.
  • Check a little earlier and cover with greaseproof  paper if it is starting to burn.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Orange Icing – Ingredients

  • 100g icing sugar – approx
  • 1½ tablespoon of  orange juice
  • Zest of half a large orange

Orange Icing – Method

  • Mix the icing sugar with the orange juice and zest.
  • Adjust sugar or juice to make a thin pouring icing.
  • Once the cake is cold, pour this over the cake.
  • Smooth down with a warm spatula.

Served on tea plates Lyndale by Royal Standard. 

Note – if you want a thicker icing or more on the sides then increase the sugar to 150g and use more orange juice.