Cinnamon and Raisin Marble Loaf Cake

For today's bake it's a simple Cinnamon and Raisin Loaf Cake but sometime it's the simple ones that are the best! If you're looking for a tasty cake that takes next to no time to make and goes well with a cup of tea, then this could be the one for you! And believe it or not as far as I can remember this is the first marble cake I've ever made!

The cinnamon gives it a lovely flavour, the raisins and soured cream make it really moist and light and the marbling adds a bit of fun. This recipe came from the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days and it really is simple to make, it's the kind of thing that you could make time and again and also on a whim as most of the ingredients you'll probably have in your cupboards.

The recipe suggested that to marble the cake, the vanilla layer should be spread in the loaf tin first and then the cinnamon layer added on top before being swirled together using a skewer. In my limited knowledge of marbling, I didn't think this would give the greatest effect, so I blobbed spoonful's of each mixture in alternately before swirling and it seemed to work. I also made a bit more of the mixture cinnamon than was suggested as the recipe only called for 200g of cinnamon but this didn't seem like very much. However, I was very pleased with the finished product and I'd make this again! 

I'm entering my cake into this month's Alpha Bakes as the letter this month is 'R'. There are plenty of R's out there and raisins are a simple entry, so if you fancy giving Alpha Bakes a try then check out host Ros's blog - The More Than Occasional Baker. The challenge is hosted on alternate months with Caroline of Caroline Makes.

Ingredients

190g unsalted butter
190g plain flour
190g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
25ml soured cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
70g raisins

This one is easy to make. Start by preheating the oven to 170c/150c fan/gas 3 and grease the loaf tin and dust with flour. The recipe states to use a 8.5 x 17.5cm tin, I think mine was a little larger than this but it still turned out fine...but the cake was slightly shallower.

Whisk together the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, this can take up to 5 minutes. It is obviously easier if you start with softer butter! Next beat in the eggs one at a time making sure each addition is fully incorporated, you may also wish to scrape down the sides of the bowl at this point.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the batter in two parts, mixing on a low speed until the mixture just comes together. To finish, add the sour cream and vanilla essence and mix.

In order to create the two contrasting colours with which to marble the cake, put 250g or up to half of the mixture into a separate bowl and then mix in the cinnamon to this half. Add the raisins into the remaining batter. The recipe then suggests to pour the raisin batter into the tin and then spread the cinnamon batter on top before running a skewer through to marble. However, I don't think this method will give the best marble effect, so I just put alternating random blobs of each mix into the tin and then ran my skewer through.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, mine took a little bit longer. It should feel firm and a skewer should come out clean. Leave in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning the cake out of the tin to cool completely.

* Adapted from Cake Days by the Hummingbird Bakery.

Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Buns

I always admire lovely swirled buns whenever I see them online or in a bakery so I was excited to come across this recipe when I was considering what to make for Calendar Cakes this month as the theme is Bread, Rolls and Buns. I was however a little apprehensive about making them as I thought it might be difficult but it acutally turned out to be a lot easier than I thought!

Toffee and apple is a classic combination and these buns are no exception. They tasted delicious and just as a bun should....they were lovely and soft with a subtle hint of cinnamon. There was also the added bonus of the sticky toffee sauce on the bottom which complemented the apples perfectly. I really enjoyed these buns and would definitely make them again. They look rather unassuming in the photos but I don't think the pictures do them justice!

There were a number of different elements to this recipe but all were simple to do! First up was making the dough which consisted of milk, dried active yeast, golden caster sugar, strong white bread flour and butter. Only 5 minutes of kneading was required.

Whilst the dough was rising I stewed my apples down to a puree (the apples were Braeburns which didn't want to stew down without a fight), made the toffee sauce from butter, golden syrup and soft light brown sugar and finally I mixed up the cinnamon butter (butter, cinnamon and a little golden caster sugar).

The toffee sauce is poured into the bottom of a 23cm tin ready for the buns to be placed on top before baking. I was a little worried about the toffee leaking out of the bottom of the pan so I invested in a Push Pan from Lakeland. I've mentioned Push Pans before and they seem like a really good idea as there is a seal which prevents leakage...and it worked perfectly. The Push Pan would also be great for upside down cakes....I previously had an upside down cake leak and wished then I had one of these!

Once the dough had doubled in size (about an hour and a half) it was gently kneaded for 30 seconds before being rolled/stretched out to 50 x 30cm rectangle...I even had my ruler out! This was then spread with the cinnamon butter followed by the stewed apple before being tightly rolled up starting with the long side. The roll was then cut into 7 and each piece was then placed in the pan on top of the toffee sauce. This was then left to rise again. Finally, the buns were brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with demerera sugar before baking.

The recipe for these Toffee Apple Buns is from BBC GoodFood and as it's rather long you can follow this link if you'd like to make the buns. The recipe would also be a great starting point for creating your own flavours. If I made these again I might add some sultanas and maybe some sugar nibs on top!

Inspired by Homemade Bread Day on November 17th, these Toffee Apple Cinnamon Buns are my first entry into this month's Calendar Cakes. The theme is Breads, Rolls and Buns. We'd love you take up the challenge, you can find out more here.

 

Nigella's Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

I don't very often make muffins...I'm not sure why as I'm more than happy to eat them! However, when I saw the theme for this month's Forever Nigella was 'Packed Lunch Stars' I leafed through my Nigella cookbooks and came across this recipe for Apple and Cinnamon Muffins. The recipe is from 'Kitchen - Recipes from the heart of the home'.

These muffins are perfect for a packed lunch...they're a little sweet treat but they're also healthier than a regular muffin as they're not laiden with sugar. The apples give them a natural sweetness so they'll be a hit with the kids. Nigella describes them as a 'wholesome treat' which is exactly what you want to find in your packed lunch. These muffins were also made with spelt flour which is a first for me as I've never used it. For those of you like me who aren't very au fait with spelt, it's a non-wheat flour that gives a slightly nutty flavour.

The muffins were really moist and had a lovely hint of cinnamon. The tops were sprinkled with an (unblanched) almond, sugar and cinnamon rubble and there were also almonds in the muffin batter which gave them a contrasting texture. I think the optimal time for eating these is the day after making as the flavour had developed a little...but don't leave it too long to eat them as after a couple of days the apple made them a little too moist! Nigella also suggests they can be eaten warm or if you make a batch and wish to freeze them then they'll last for around 2 months...perfect for busy mums! :-)

As I mentioned this was my first time using spelt, it was also my first time using Tulip muffin cases...I loved the results, the muffins look so pretty and professional...just like you'd see in a cafe!

 

Why not check out this month's Forever Nigella, the theme is 'Packed Lunch Stars'. This month's guest host is Working London Mummy and the creator of Forever Nigella is Sarah over at Maison Cupcake.


Ingredients

2 eating apples
250g spelt flour (or you can use plain flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
125g light brown sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
125ml honey
60ml natural yogurt (not set)
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
75g unblanched almonds

Heat your oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6 and choose your muffin wrappers and line the muffin tin, this recipe makes 12.

Peel the apples and then cut into small 1cm cubes. Next weigh out the flour, baking powder and a teaspoon on cinnamon into a bowl. In a seperate bowl measure out the brown sugar, honey, yogurt, vegetable oil and eggs and mix together.

Chop the almonds (I used a mini food processor but it gave quite varying sizes of almond). Add half of the almonds to the flour and pop the other half in another small bowl. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and 4 teaspoons of sugar to the small bowl of almonds...this is the 'rubble' topping for sprinkling on top of the muffins.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and then fold gently. Next add the chopped apple and combine. Spoon or use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the 12 muffin cases and then sprinkle the almond, sugar and cinnamon topping over each one.

Bake for around 20 minutes. The finished product should be risen and golden. Once removed from the oven leave in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack.