So there I was, sitting innocently in the garden drafting the skirt post, and the post about looking round the Spectrum Yarns mill, when I was rudely interrupted by a silly idea that just would not go away. An idea that had nowt to do with knitting or crochet. And whilst I tried my hardest to concentrate on telling you about the luscious yarn being worked at that mill, this pesky idea grabbed me by the brain cell and dragged me all the way into the kitchen, whereupon it told me to look for some fruit, some bowls, and a cake tin. I swear that the idea chuckled a bit as I did its bidding.
The idea was this: wouldn’t it be fun to bake a sponge cake which was laden with different fruits in different sections, so you’d never quite know what you were going to bite into? (Am I making sense at all?)
So I poked about in the fruit bowl (and the fridge and freezer, it not being fruit season), and came up with an apple, some raspberries, a pineapple, blueberries, and a large squishy plum. I chopped up about a tablespoon-full of each. Yum! 🙂
And then I made up a quick sponge cake (recipe at bottom), one of those easy cheaty ones that involves just chucking everything in a bowl together and beating it until your arm hurts.
(Serious bakers will be snorting in derision at this point. Fair enough.)
From then on, I really was winging it. I divided the mixture into five bowls, and stirred one type of fruit into each:-
And then I dropped spoonfuls of each into the cake tin, keeping each fruit to its own patch in the tin, but acknowledging there’d be a certain amount of splurging and merging. What I DIDN’T do was pile one fruity mixture on top of another, because both fruits would probably have sunk to the bottom together during baking. Nearly done:-
And then into the oven it went, producing the most mouth-watering smells. Look!
Mmmmmmmm….
Want to see inside? Well this is the point where I remind you that this is a knitting/crochet blog, not a baking blog, and if you’re a serious constructor of cakes, you may want to look elsewhere. Really, I should have adjusted the consistency of each section of the cake to allow for the runny-ness of the fruit it contained but hey, life’s too short already. But you know what? I have cake and I don’t care. 🙂
Recipe (massively adapted years ago from one in Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes book:-
9oz / 225g self-raising flour
9oz / 225g soft margarine
9oz / 225g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2tbsp milk
1tsp baking powder
(And the fruits, obviously, chopped small. Roughly a heaped tbsp of each. I used five different ones.)
Combine everything except the fruit. Beat into oblivion with a wooden spoon. Then follow instructions above. Bake in an 8-inch / 20cm diameter deep cake tin at 180C for about 55 mins, or until surface is golden and springy to the touch.
AND NOW I REALLY AM GOING TO FINISH THAT SKIRT POST! (Thank you to kind commenters who asked about it.)
Love it! Thanks for making me laugh….perhaps I’ll find some humor in my own work…even the cats ignored the sock tonight;-)
I believe it’s known as the ‘all-in-one method’. ‘Cos, y’know, if you call it a method, it sounds far less cheaty.
Looks yummy. I may need to make cake now.
You had fallen off my WP notifications list along with three others I have just discovered…….. I’m sure I’ve missed loads, but I’m happy to be back for cake!
Sounds/looks yummy!
That’s how I make apple cake! Nice and easy so as not to interfere with knitting time. I like the idea of a fruit medley though 🙂
Distractions from knitting can be a nuisance, but when they’re the sweet kind they should be embraced! Too bad we can’t have a bite, will my brain now tell me to bake instead of craft?
Oh this is brilliant. So wish I had thought of it.
very clever, and sounds very delicious!
As a mother of four sons, I spent my life home baking……they grew very tall ha ha!! I have been looking for a recipe like this all in one. My Victoria Sponges were done the old way, beating and folding. Therapeutic but time consuming. My sons have left home now, and I started buying my sponges from a local WI market. But this has spurred me into trying some baking. It is cold outside so perfect for cooking, and smelling the cake as it bakes. Friends coming for coffee tomorrow so will offer them my raspberry cake (maybe with a side of cream?). Thank you! Now back to knitting and waiting for the cake to cook.
Fun to read how your creativity just needed another way to express itself 🙂
Sounds scrummy! Enjoy!
Mmmm cake distracted now
Thank you for the recipe! Will have to try it out!
Made me lol – what a great idea!
I’m making lots of cakes now, too – not cravings, though… Birthday season in our house. We will be having one cake per Sunday for 8 weeks running…
For the throw the ingredients together and mix well type recipe, I use the food processor. 🙂
Looks and sounds yummy, with the added bonus of being all five of your five-a-day 😉
But then with 5 different fruits you would need to eat 5 slices just to try a bit of each…. my kind of cake! Brings a whole new meaning to your 5 a day!
Interesting
Cake is important, too. Must bake one today as I ran out of cake and it is weekend. But there is always a good reason to bake one. Yours looks great and tasty!
Corine
You make cake like you crochet Ms Twisted, with a most noble hats off to science and experimentation and we are all SO glad that you do. I call that cake an unmitigated success and a fruity one at that 🙂
Wonderful. That cake looks yummy. Could maybe use some whipped cream??
Only just found this, don’t know how I missed it. It’s brilliant, looks scrumptious.