There’s not much that can convince me to dig my ancient mixer out from the back of the cupboard and bake these days. I’m at a stage where baking feels like it belongs to a fuzzy, long-forgotten, time-rich version of me.
Thanks to my clingy toddler, carving out any time alone in the kitchen has become a daily battle. I would so love to be able to spend a Sunday morning pottering away at the stove, Radio 4 on, the Archers Omnibus blurring into Desert Island Disks, the hours stretching out before me.
Instead, cooking is a furtive, snatched time to be fought for while my son is momentarily preoccupied. It’s overcooking the rice (again) because I got distracted picking him up. It watching things burn on the stove because he started to cry. I feel guilty writing this – why should I need more time alone, when I’m away all day at work? But getting back and cooking dinner used to be what I did to decompress from the day, and honestly, I miss it.
This weekend, however, I broke my self-imposed baking ban and made this cake. It’s a cake for people who really don’t have the time or inclination to bake, since it only requires a tiny bit of mixing before it can be plonked into the tray – no icing, beating or folding required. This would be a lovely thing to make for a mother or mother figure, or just anyone who deserves a slice of great cake. Happy Mother’s Day.
Cinnamon and brown sugar cake
Serves 8-10
175g muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
375g self-raising flour
330g caster sugar
4 eggs
275ml milk (I used oat)
250g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
60g salted butter
Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Wet a large square of greaseproof paper, shake dry, scrunch into a ball then use to line a 20 x 20cm tin, pushing into the sides.
Mix the muscovado sugar with the cinnamon and set aside.
Mix the flour, caster sugar, eggs, milk, unsalted butter and vanilla with an electric whisk until combined.
Spoon half of the cake mix into the prepared tin and top with half of the cinnamon sugar. Top with the remaining cake mix, and remaining cinnamon sugar. Melt the salted butter in a pan, swirling, until it foams – 4-5 minutes. Pour over the cake.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin, then cut into slices and serve. If you can’t wait, it’s also lovely warm with a dollop of crème fraiche.
The baby step
Not exactly an adaptation, but if you’re getting the baking stuff out and turning the oven on, these are pretty easy to throw together and bake alongside. If you don’t have a baked sweet potato (it’s worth doing an extra one to keep in reserve), use a second banana instead.
Sugar-free sweet potato, banana and cinnamon muffins
Makes 12
135g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
50g yoghurt
50ml rapeseed oil
1 banana
1 sweet potato, baked, skin removed
1 tbsp raisins (leave out for very young babies)
Preheat the oven to 180C fan and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
Add the flour and cinnamon to a bowl and stir in the egg, yoghurt and oil. Mash in the banana and sweet potato then stir in the raisins.
Spoon into the cupcake cases. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.