Ingredients
For the batter:
- Strong white flour 225g
- Salt 1 teaspoon
- Dried instant yeast 7g
- Milk 150g
- Caster sugar 2 teaspoons
- Eggs 3
- Butter unsalted 85g
For the syrup:
- Caster sugar 170g
- Water 210g
- Rum or other spirit (optional) 5 tablespoons
For topping (all optional):
- Glacé cherries, half a dozen
- Desiccated coconut, small handful
- Fresh fruit
- Cream
Utensils
- Large mixing bowl
- Sieve
- Wooden spoon for beating
- 21cm diameter cake tin (needs to be quite deep, mine's 7cm deep)
- Baking parchment for lining the tin
- Oven
Method
Lightly adapted from Elizabeth David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery
- Warm the milk to body heat, either in the microwave or on the stove
- Sieve the flour into your large bowl
- Add the yeast, salt and sugar to the bowl
- Rub in the butter, doesn't have to be super fine just enough to break it up into 1cm sized chunks
- Stir in the warm milk
- Add the eggs
- Mix together with a wooden spoon, it doesn't matter if it's still a bit lumpy at this stage
- Cover and leave in a warm place (around 25 degrees Celsius) for around an hour until doubled in volume
- Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for around five minutes, it should thicken slightly
- Line your tin with baking parchment
- Pour the mixture into the tin, it should be less than half full to allow room for expansion
- Put your oven on to preheat at 180 degrees Celsius
- Cover the tin lightly and place it in the same warm place as before
- When the mixture is 1cm away from the top of the tin it is ready to bake (45min - 1hour)
- Place on a baking tray in the hot oven for 25 minutes
- Whilst the cake is baking boil the sugar and water together for 10-15 minutes until it thickens slightly
- Remove the syrup from the heat and add the alcohol (optional)
- When the cake is baked it should have a pale golden colour all over, you can test the centre is cooked by inserting a skewer in the middle and seeing if it comes out clean
- Leave it to cool for 2-3 minutes
- Turn the cake upside-down onto a large dish or plate
- Pour most of the syrup over the top of the cake and leave for 10-20 minutes to absorb, retain a little syrup and serve alongside as a sauce
- Add your desired toppings and serve
