Mixed Spice and Walnut cake
(for a 10” round 4” depth bundt tin)
Ingredients:
- 10oz Self Raising Flour
- 10oz Caster Sugar
- 5 eggs
- 10oz Unsalted butter – softened
- 1 and 1/2 tbs sweet mixed spice
- 1 tsp Cinnaon
- 1 tsp Cardamom
- 200g walnut halves
Method:
- Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light, fluffy and pales in colour.
- Add the mixed spice, cinnamon and cardamom to your flour and sift it all.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time. You can add a spoonful of sifted flour if your mixture starts to curdle but the more air you can beat into the egg, butter and sugar mixture without flour the better.
- Once all the eggs are incorporated you can add the rest of the flour and gently fold it into your mixture so that you do not lose all the air you have beaten in.
- Empty your walnut halves into a blender and blitz until chopped up into smaller pieces. Be careful not to blitz too much as you still want the pieces to be a decent size.
- Add the chopped walnuts to your cake mixture and gently fold until fully incorporated.
- Butter your Bundt tin well and then sprinkle flour all inside to prevent sticking.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into the tin and place in pre-heated oven on 170 degrees (fan assisted) for appx 1 hour. Check cake is baked by placing a clean skewer through the deepest section and if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
- Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before turning out of tin onto a cooling rack.
About Laura John:
Laura John lives in London, baking is her passion. She inherited baking from her Grandmother . Her cakes are well appreciated, word of mouth publicity has made her a popular household name with her friends and family.Laura always had the passion for baking which started from a very tender age. She would watch her grandmother bake traditional Assyrian (middle eastern) pastries, breads and savoury pastries. She was mesmerised by the ease with which her nana would handle bowls full of pastry and create the most beautiful and delicious treats. Grandma would always give her a little ball of dough to play with and she would try to copy her. As the years went on and her grandmother became frailer, she would enjoy Laura and her sister baking for her. This was when she began making her favourite cake, Mixed spice and Walnut. It became known to them as ‘Nana’s cake’.
Laura began making theme cakes rather by chance. She was asked by a colleague if she could make a cake for her 60th, she wanted a particular theme so she agreed to give it a go. The result was stupendous. And soon she realised that when she is shown a photo or given an idea of what someone wants, she can produce a cake that the customer loves and that she can be proud of. Since then, she has been asked by family, friends, colleagues and members of the community to make cakes for special occasions.
Laura is married to a Scout Leader and is regularly asked to bake cakes for raffle prizes. Her most challenging theme cake was requested by her 5 year old niece. She wanted a Disney Princess Castle cake to show all her friends. The look on her face when she walked into the room and saw her cake was all Laura needed. Her creations can be found on Instagram Laura_J_Bakes
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
