Sunday 13 January 2013

Spelt, raspberry, blueberry and ginger cake





I’ve been dabbling with spelt recently (I have, at present, two other spelt recipes waiting in the wings to share) since Mr CC bought me a big bag of wholemeal spelt flour from his travels in Norfolk.  The flour was milled at LeatheringsettWatermill in Holt, where the mill has been working since 1802.




Spelt is an ancient grain enjoying a surge in popularity at present.  It is higher in vitamin B and protein than other wheat and some people with wheat sensitivity find that they can eat spelt due to its lower gluten content.  It certainly tastes different to ordinary flour and I’ve found that it adds more texture and a strong nutty flavour to my bakes.







This cake was meant to be a spelt, rhubarb and ginger cake.  For the past few weeks I have admired the forced rhubarb in my local supermarket and – of course – this week they didn’t have any.  It’s like they do it on purpose.  Grrr.  Knowing that spelt added nuttiness to a bake I opted for fruits that work well with nuts.  And I never tire of how beautiful raspberries and blueberries look baked into the top of a cake.






The topping was incredible and so simple.  Brushing the ginger syrup over the top of the hot cake gave a good surface for the sugar to stick to and it created a flavoursome crunchy thin crust.  Here it is just sprinkled:




Here it is after it’s cooled and sunk into the fruit:




There’s a forecast of snow for tonight.  I seem to be one of the few people I know who freely (and vocally!) admits to loathing snow.  Rather than stress at the weather forecasts I shall focus on my lovely cake!




Ingredients

For the cake:
450g raspberries and blueberries
140g unsalted butter
200g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
4 pieces of stem ginger in syrup – chopped as small as possible (I used my mini food processor)
200g wholemeal spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

For the topping:
Stem ginger syrup from the jar
3 teaspoons caster sugar


Method

Wash the fruit and leave to dry – there is nothing worse than putting wet fruit on top of a cake batter and watching it sink and ooze moisture over everything!

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line a 18cm x 28cm pan with baking paper or non stick foil.  I used my mini roasting pan which was the perfect size.

Melt the butter over a gentle heat.

When melted, remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar.

Put to one side and leave to cool for a couple of minutes.

Place the eggs, chopped ginger, flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and mix.

Add the butter and sugar mix and stir rapidly to incorporate all the ingredients.  It will be a gloopy batter similar to ginger cake or sticky toffee pudding.  Take care to ensure no dry ingredients are stuck at the bottom of the bowl.

Pour into the prepared tin and tap sharply on the work top so the batter levels out.
Scatter the fruit over the top.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Check it after 3o minutes as I found the cake needed turning in the oven to ensure it cooked evenly.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

While the cake is still hot brush some of the syrup from the ginger jar over the top of the cake – just enough so the whole top is shiny.

Scatter caster sugar over the top and leave the cake to cool completely.

Serve in large squares on its own, or with cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

21 comments:

Susie @ Fold in the Flour said...

This does look lovely and I think the fruit layer looks beautiful. I haven't tried spelt, but I like the sound of the flavour it imparts. It sounds like it works well with fruit. I'll have to investigate. :)

Kezia said...

The colours of the raspberries and blueberries are so beautiful! I love spelt but have only had it in bread - would be interesting to try it in a cake!

Katie said...

Looks a fabulous cake. I adore the colour of the blueberries and raspberries together. The ginger is a nice touch too.
I'm not looking forward to snow either - I now live on a hill and hills and snow don't mix!

Anonymous said...

This looks delicious!

I’ve made a few of your recipes before, and because they’ve always turned out, I nominated you for a Super Sweet Blogging Award. The rules are here: http://xtinaluvspink.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/and-the-award-goes-to/ I hope you choose to participate. Happy baking!

Ulla said...

I´ve been using spelt rather lot in past years. I love nutty flavour of it. I use spelt for baking as well cooking. Spelt pearls are worth to try instead of rice.
I need to wait until May to get rhubarb from garden. I had to keep this recipe in mind :)

Unknown said...

Oh yum - just my kind of cake.

Laura Loves Cakes said...

Great recipe...and great looking cake! I've said this before but I do love fruit in cakes!!! Spelt is also an interesting ingredient...I've only used it a couple of times but it does a certain something different! :-)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Oh, I have everything bar the raspberries. *rubs hands together in glee*

I actually stood looking at my spelt flour toady thinking, what shall I make :)

Nickki said...

What a lovely looking cake :-) It looks and sounds so tempting! The ginger syrup sounds right up my street :-)

Nickki said...

What a lovely looking cake :-) It looks and sounds so tempting! The ginger syrup sounds right up my street :-)

Jo said...

I love the look of this. Bet it's extra tasty with a bit of cream or custard.

Gloria Baker said...

what lovely and nice cake look amazing and delicious!

Cakelaw said...

This cake looks lovely. If it helps, I am pretty sure I'd hate snow too because I loathe the cold.

Debs Dust Bunny said...

Our local watermill grinds spelt into flour and the resident baker makes a very tasty spelt bread. I've never tried baking with spelt but your cake give me the motivation I need to give it a try. As always, your cake looks delicious!

Maggie said...

I have yet to bake with Spelt flour, I can be so yesterday. The topping looks delicious.

Snowy said...

Lovely looking cake. Have used spelt flour a couple of times in bread, but not in a cake.

sensibilia said...

You have lightened the gloom brought on by this awful weather. One can't go out much, so staying in and baking is a good alternative. Thanks for being there in the bloggosphere! Your posts cheer me up no end. I've bought some organic spelt flour from Sainsbury's.

Top Cuisine avec Lavi said...


looks delicious! great recipe!

Lucy said...

We have a 'flour cupboard' full of odd bags of different flours, this cake looks like the perfect recipe to dig out the spelt! Love the cheery brightness of the berries in snowy January.

Unknown said...

I regularly bake with spelt as I have a wheat intolerance and it is fantastic for this kind of cake.

This recipe is now on my 'to bake' list :-)

http://eatwithoutwheat.blogspot.co.uk/

Rachel@Sunday Baking said...

Wish I'd seen this recipe when I was looking for something to use up my blueberries!....next time!