The weekend is always, always too short. Friday after work the world is my oyster and there seems to be so much time for sleeping, watching TV, playing video games, cooking, going out, and doing some chores. But then somehow, all of a sudden, the daylight starts to fade and it is Sunday night and although the weekend has been glorious the bathroom is still dirty and I still want to play more video games.
I always want more weekend, and thankfully this past one was gloriously relaxing and did include lots of cooking. And lots of cooking in a good way. Weekends are were I can do the ambitious cooking there isn’t time for during the week. Weekends are also the time when I can just whip up something easy because I feel like it. And that’s exactly what it was like with this lovely and simple cider cake. I felt like making a cake, so I made a cake.
I like to borrow cookbooks from the library. It lets me get creative and try something new without having to spend money or clutter my home with more books. Don’t get me wrong I love cookbooks and would buy more, but I live in a studio and someone says I should cut back. Anyway, I recently borrowed Paul Hollywood’s British Baking and it’s filled with all kinds of tasty goodies from regions throughout the Britain. When I flipped through the book I was immediately drawn to the cider recipe.
I love cider and I love that it is everywhere in the UK. In the U.S. it’s pretty much beer or not beer. The only time I ever had hard cider at home was if I bought Woodchuck to go to a party. But here you can go to a pub and order cider in bottles or on draft. The tastes and types vary and it’s not a drink just for girls. In summation, I love the idea of baking with cider. Cider is delicious and a little gets to go in the cake, and then I can have a little too.
This cake is subtle with a hint of apple and a bit of cinnamon. While baking it will fill your home with a wonderful aroma. The cake is sweet enough you feel like you’re having a treat, but not so dessert-y that you’ll feel bad about having more than one slice. Have it with some tea, cozy up on the couch, and binge watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Netflix. That’s what I did it. It was the perfect example of enjoying luxuriating in simple pleasures.
Adapted from Paul Hollywood’s British Baking Cookbook.
Messy level: The cleanest easiest cake I’ve ever made. You need just two bowls and a cake pan. It’s simple to make and when I finished I had only a small spill on the floor. I was so excited by how clean my kitchen was at the end of baking that I made Ryan acknowledge how well I had done.
- 100g/ 7 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 100g/ ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 225g/8 oz/ 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 150ml/ 5 oz/ ⅔ cup dry cider
- confectioner's sugar, for dusting
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Grease an 7inch/18cm round cake tin with butter. Then line the bottom with parchment paper (Just fyi, I used a 8 inch/20cm cake tin and this worked fine, but I thought I'd share what the expert said)
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat until the sugar and butter are light and fluffy. (This can take a minute or two)
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Fold in about ⅓ of the flour mixture into the butter. Then fold in half of the cider. Repeat until you have alternated mixing in the flour and cider. Stir gently until evenly combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool.
- Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.
