A couple of years ago I had a week of writing about afternoon tea… it’s a little late on this Wednesday evening but here is the Wednesday suggestions:
It’s afternoon tea week!! On Sunday in inadvertent anticipation, I shared my treacle scones recipe, then on Monday I had a look at the afternoon tea menu from the Ritz in London… just a little beyond my pocket! Yesterday I discovered the wonderfully named shooting star open sandwich – doesn’t the name just make you want to wolf it down? So today, I’m thinking about cake… you have to have cake with a proper afternoon tea.
On Sunday, and again at the time I didn’t realise it was going to be ATW (afternoon tea week) and I made a delicious cake by one of my favourite cooks, Maryam, who shares some yumptious Persian recipes and is going to publish a book of them next year (I’m sure she is excited, so am I!) It caught my eye not only because the picture looked so enticing, but also it sounded interesting, olive oil, squash, pistachios? Sounds good to me. So I made it – I’ve had trouble with cakes using oil before, but not this one!! So delicious!! Don’t just take my word for it, here’s a link to the recipe, go ahead, make it! The recipe works and it’s yummy:
So for my afternoon tea I would definitely have this… and what else, you have to have at least two types of cake!
Going back to Wednesday, named after Woden the Norse god, it’s not necessarily a great day to be born, Wednesday’s child is full of woe… and the Irish and Scottish name for the day refers to fasting… not a cake day then… I’m struggling to find a cake associated with Wednesday or with Woden, but a further link is the planet mercury – so… according to Vedic astrology mung beans are the thing for Wednesday… but no, not for cakes! However, on another site I find that mercury in astrological medicine from the sixteenth century, is associated with carrots and nuts!! What does this mean? it means carrot cake! My favourite!!
Here is a version with pineapple as well, and desiccated coconut. it is so moist and delicious!
Carrot, pineapple and coconut cake
- 9 oz plain flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 7 oz brown sugar
- 5½ fl oz oil (following my recent success with Maryam’s cake I now use olive oil)
- 2 medium carrots finely grated, or processed (but not to a mush – the bits have to be carroty still)
- 8½ oz crushed pineapple, undrained
- 2 oz desiccated coconut
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (as I don’t like cinnamon I would use mixed spice or allspice)
- cream cheese frosting (3 oz cream cheese, 2 oz butter, 11 oz icing sugar – I like a lemon flavour but you can add vanilla if you prefer)
- nuts of your choice to decorate I like walnuts, pecan or pistachio but have what you like
- prepare a 9×9 cake tin (greased and lined)
- mix dry ingredients
- add all the other ingredients and mix well, really well
- bake at 350° F, 180° C, gas mark 4 for about 35 mins (this is what the recipe says, in my oven it takes another 15-20 mins) check and take out if done, or leave in for a few more minutes
- when cool, decorate with the frosting and nuts
Links to my afternoon tea stories:
https://loiselden.com/2017/08/13/treacle-scones/
https://loiselden.com/2017/08/14/afternoon-tea-week/
https://loiselden.com/2017/08/15/afternoon-tea-week-its-tuesday/
https://loiselsden.com/2017/08/17/thursdays-afternoon-tea-today-is-the-day-for-thor-cake/
https://loiselsden.com/2017/08/18/lightning-eclairs-on-fridays-cake-stand/
https://loiselsden.com/2017/08/19/afternoon-tea-week-saturday-special/
https://loiselsden.com/2017/08/20/high-tea-for-national-afternoon-tea-week-finale/
… and a link to my e-books and my recently published paperback, Radwinter:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lois+elsden
Lois Elsden 