My Mum’s Raspberry and Cinnamon Cake

My Mum used to turn out this cake on a regular basis when we visited herself and Dad in their lovely retirement cottage in Skerries Co. Dublin. The original recipe had half self-raising flour and half ground Almonds, which made it beautifully moist. However, when we realised we had a nut-allergic daughter, it was either change the recipe, or never eat this cake again – you can guess which option won!

In the winter time, when raspberries were expensive,  Mum used to substitute locally-grown Rhubarb instead – I’m not sure which one I prefer; they were both delicious! I’m making The Nut-free option here, but the one with ground almonds is in the NOTES section below.

EQUIPMENT:

• An 8inch spring-release cake tin, greased and lined.
• An electric beater with bowl.
• a spatula
• A small fine sieve, optional, for sprinkling icing sugar etc over the completed cake.

INGREDIENTS:                                                           

• 150g Butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 300g Self-raising flour
• A heaped teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 200g fresh raspberries, or 200g rhubarb, chopped into small chunks
• A teaspoon of Icing sugar, with half a spoon of ground Cinnamon – optional, to sprinkle over the finished, cooled cake.

METHOD: Simplicity itself.. ** See my NOTES below for a Nut-free version**

• Heat the oven to 160 fan.
• Put the flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and eggs into the bowl of your Electric beater.

• Blend together until well mixed together. This makes quite a stiff batter.
• Spread half of the batter over the bottom of the prepared tin.

• Sprinkle over the raspberries

• Dot the remainder of the cake batter over the raspberries (the batter will meld together as it cooks)

• Pop it in the oven and set the timer for 45 minutes.
• After the 45 minutes are up, test  the cake to see if it’s done – it probably won’t be, and the top may be browning a little too much, so cover it with a sheet of greaseproof paper, and give it a further 10-15 minutes – until your cake tester comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before you release the spring-form tin.
• Sift the icing sugar and ground cinnamon mix over just before serving.
• This cake is lovely eaten just slightly warm, with a big dollop of whipped cream or Crème Fraiche to accompany it.

NOTES:

• This cake is not particularly handsome – although it tastes delicious – I think this is why Mum sprinkled the icing sugar/ cinnamon over the top – it certainly made it more professional looking.

The Almond Version: 

• Use 150g Self-raising Flour and 150g of ground Almonds, in place of the 300g in the nut-free version. Simplicity itself!
• Use only 1 large egg in this mixture, then complete the recipe as above.