Big Man has been in Spain for a couple of weeks so the day before he returned I cooked some dishes he would enjoy to welcome him home. This included a cake, as a special treat, and it was perfect for sitting around the next day (which was cold and snowy) with some good strong coffee while we had a good old catch up.
Regular readers of the blog will know that I don’t make many cakes, and when I do I mostly go down the “all in one” route and tend to use olive oil rather than butter. Not for health reasons, but because when I first started living in Spain it was more difficult for me to get hold of good quality butter (and getting it home before it melted in the summer was an adventure in itself). As we produce our own wonderful olive oil each year, it made sense to substitute this for the butter and I soon found that it produced light and delicious cakes…so I simply kept on using it.
This is more of a tea loaf than a sponge cake and would be delicious spread with butter (the best of both worlds! ) although it’s delicious as it is. I baked this in a 23cm x 13cm loaf tin and it cuts into about 12 slices.
Ingredients
- 100g of sultanas soaked in your favourite tea (I used a ginger tea but Earl Grey would also be fantastic) then drained and cooled
- 100g chopped candied peel
- Approx 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
- 175g self raising flour mixed with ½ teaspoon of salt
- 60ml olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 150g of runny honey
Preheat the oven to 185° fan oven or 195° regular oven and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Beat the oil and honey together then add the eggs one by one. Mix in the drained sultanas, candied peel and fresh ginger then mix in the flour and salt. This cake mix is as forgiving as most of my others, so you don’t need to fold things together or be particularly gentle.
Pour the mix into the prepared loaf tin and bake for approx 45 minutes. Check if it’s done by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean, you’re done. If it needs a few minutes longer and is beginning to brown, cover with some aluminium foil and give it another five minutes before checking again.
Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out and cooling completely on a rack. Will keep for about 3 days in an airtight container.
If you enjoy citrus flavours, take a look at this Sticky Citrus and Marmalade cake.
Chica Andaluza 
How lovely – I bet Toli appreciated that and it looks like he’s got a carajillo the side!
Oh yes, carajillo de anis dulce!
That makes up for all the nasty weather!
This is my favourite type of cake. I haven’t baked a cake for over a year so I’m going to give this a go. A large portion of the family are arriving for a weekend middle March so this will be perfect to make this week and put a couple in the deep freeze. it also looks like a perfect “Welcome back to England” cake, don’t you think. Hint?
Hint has been taken on board! Not long now…
I made my first loaf last night. A few substitutions (like raisins for sultanas, grapeseed oil for Olive oil and dried ginger for fresh – trip to the Supermarket long overdue). It turned out beautifully moist and the citrus taste was just how I like it. My oven cooks a bit hot but that is easily remedied. Thanks, Tanya, for helping me back into baking.
Oh I’m so pleased, I love hearing about how my recipes are used and people make them their own…as it should be! Sometimes my loaves cook in 40 minutes other times nearer an hour. I think things like exact size of the eggs, age of flour and even humidity can affect exact cooking times.
Aah yes, the best of both worlds would be the way I’d enjoy a slice of this glorious cake – bake with olive oil and lashings of butter on a slice with a nice cuppa on the side.
Have a glorious and happy week ahead dear friend.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thank you Mandy, hope you’ve had a good day!
Hi Chica! I hope you are well!
Your Ginger, sultana and orange cake looks scrumptious. I may well give it a go! I am sure it will tempt Big Man to hurry back 🙂 Here is my lemon marmalade cake 🙂 It has been chucking down with rain here in the Algarve, Portugal too!
http://www.bright-work.co.uk/lemon-marmalade-cake/
All great here thanks…Am off to check out your recipe, I think I’ll like it and when we get back to Spain (soon!) we’ll have lots of lemons.
Delicious looking cake, I can see Alfi is keeping a close eye on proceedings too! x
He takes his monitoring duties most seriously!
Always! 😍
Love to taste your yummy recipe 🙂
Give it a go!7
I need this cake in my life now. Even though the weather has improved!
You must have had worse weather than us. It’s pretty much back to normal here know.
We had some snow, but we’re in a little pocket so missed the worst of it.
Such a lovely way to welcome Big Man home! Love the photo with the roaring fireplace, dogs keeping warm and coffee and cake… life looks pretty good! 🙂
We have had a lot of ups and downs the last year losing loved ones and health issues for Big Man, so we’re very focused on appreciating every moment and celebrating the small joys that every day brings…like a good coffee and a roaring fire. .life is indeed good!
So sorry to hear that it was a tough year for you guys Tanya. Hope very much that 2018 brings you many more ups than downs and that Big Man’s health is on the mend and much improved from last year.
Is that 150mls of runny honey, or 150g? I have an idea to adapt this cake. And good thing Big Man could get home without any hassle because of the weather.
Oops, have amended. It was grams, I poured it in and measured by weight!
This will be tried soon. I will substitute the end of the Twinings Christmas tea which is deliciously fruity.
I’m sure you’re very happy to have the Big Man back 😃.
Ooh I had that tea…it will be perfect!
This sounds amazing. In the summer I travel with a cold bag to get the butter and other cold stuff home without spoiling.
Sounds fabulous, but I’m way too late to scrounge a piece. 😦
All gone now….!
Thanks Gods! I thought it was only me who put butter on cake! I LOVE it. This cake reads well – and looks just lovely! 2018 will be great year for us all- i can feel it!
What a lovely way to welcome Big Man home, I’m sure he was happy to be back…especially catching up over a piece of that delicious cake.
i like it, nice
terima kasih sudah d share. thank,s