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… or ‘I can’t believe they turned out right’ cakes!

Back in the mists of time around 1987 a young teenager was busy studying for her A levels.  Her mother was in the kitchen after a long day at work and was baking a lovely ‘cut and come again’ cake for her studious daughter (actually not that studious as my grades weren’t brilliant, anyhoo …  )

… fast forward to the present day and baking was indeed a foot yet again this time at Casa Marge,  Mother of Marge was attempting to bake ‘cut and come again’ cakes after a break of *ahem* number of years – and it was successful!

Ingredients:

• 180g (6oz) white self-raising flour
• 90g (30z) porridge oats
• 90g (3oz) sugar
• 90g (3oz) margarine or butter
• 120g (2oz) raisins (or dessicated coconut, or ground nuts)
• 25g (scant 1oz) cornflour (not needed if using coconut or ground nuts)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• sprinkle of ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 dessert spoon of vegetable oil or light olive oil

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes
2. In a large bowl sift the flour at least twice.  This will make the cakes extra fluffy.  Normally I can’t be bothered with this step but woe betide anyone who countermands Mother of Marge!
3. Add the sugar and oats.
4. Now add the margarine or butter and using a knife chop it up into the flour mixture.  You want nice small pieces and mix well.  This negates the need for the rubbing in method normally associated with ‘cut and come again’ cake. (In fact you could put the fat in the freezer for 10 minutes and then grate it in if you wish).
5. Add the spices and the raisins (or coconut/ground nuts)
6. Beat the eggs and oil together and then pour into the flour mixture, mix well.
7. Line a bun tray with cake papers (you may need to line another half a bun tray depending on how big you want the cakes to be).
8. Bake the middle of a hot oven for 15 minutes and then check the cakes with a sharp knife.  If the knife does not come out clean then bake for another 5 or so minutes.
9. Place the cut and come again fairy cakes on a cooling rack to cool (the clue is in the name!)

These cakes are delicious after 10 minutes cooling down.  You can freeze them once completely cool or store in a cake tin.

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I enjoy salad a lot and am very keen on growing my own lettuce this year, so  I thought I would show you the results of the latest crop, where you will see a mixture of ‘Little Gem’, ‘Lambs Lettuce’ ( aka ‘Corn Salad’ ), and ‘Cos’

I grew the lettuce leaves from seed (mainly Seeds of Italy varieties or cheap seeds from a local pound shop!), in pots filled with general compost.  I kept them lightly watered in a mini greenhouse, although salads will also grow happily outside in well drained soil in a sunny spot.

The great thing is if you cut the lettuce leaves using a scissors or sharp knife and leave the root in the compost then you will get another batch of salad growing and ready to pick in a couple of weeks.

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