I didn’t realise there was a particular cake associated with Bristol, but I have come across a recipe. There is something else called the Clifton Puff, Clifton once a separate village but now a district of the city – but the puff is spiced and made with apples and almonds.
Here is a recipe I found, which is called Bristol cake with no explanation attached:
- 4 oz butter
- 4 oz castor sugar
- 6 oz flour
- 1 oz cornflour
- 2 eggs
- 2 oz candied peel
- 4 oz sultanas
- 1 oz ground almonds
- zest of one lemon
- cream butter and sugar together until pale and light
- add the eggs, then beat in the flour and baking powder
- stir in the fruit and almonds and lemon zest
- pour into a greased and floured baking tin (I usually line my tins with buttered paper, just to make sure they don’t stick!)
- bake for 1½ hours at 160ºC, 350ºF, gas mark 3 (check after an hour to make sure it isn’t drying out or getting too brown, adjust temperature, or cover loosely with foil
I did find another similar recipe which suggests the top should be brushed with egg white and sprinkled with sugar ten or so minutes before it is taken from the oven…
I also found another recipe with 2 pounds each of butter, sugar, eggs and four, 3 pounds of dried fruit, and 1 pound of ‘patent’ flour… whatever that is! Once mixed ‘in the usual way’, it should be weighed into 1 pound portions and baked a moderate oven in hoops (cake rings?)
… and there is also a popular café in Warsaw called the Bristol which has its own Bristol cake!
Lois Elsden 