Somerset Spelt Apple and Cider Cake

When I was deciding what to bake for the first visit of our beloved family, I wanted to find a really local recipe.  I tried books, and I googled and only just now have found a recipe for Somerset Apple Cake which I shall try in a week or two..or course with a twist or two.

I was inspired to develop a new recipe based on the bounty of our new County...just down the road at Shapham Park farm they are now growing Spelt, we have wonderful orchards of apples with numerous varieties at the Wells Market and just beyond Cheddar is the Cider Maker Thatchers.  We have sourced wonderful honey and local free range eggs.

Ingredients

1 small eating apple, cored, then diced small with the skin still on 

1/2 tsp ground mace

150g light spelt flour

50g ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

75g Delamere goat's butter

50g honey

100g light muscovado sugar 

60g raisins

75ml cider

2 medium eggs

Flaked Almonds

Soak the raisins in the cider for a few hours or overnight.

Toss the prepared apple in the ground mace.

Add the spelt flour to a large bowl, together with the almonds and baking powder.  Add to this the cold butter and rub it in till the mixture looks even and like fine breadcrumbs.  Add the light muscavado sugar and mix till evenly distributed.

Mix the honey into the cider and raisins, the mix in the eggs gently till you have an even mixture.

Add the honey, cider, raisin and egg mixture to bowl containing the spelt, almond and butter, and stir till even but don't stir too much!

Gently pour into a 500g loaf tin which has been lined with baking parchment.  I used my slightly large Silverwood tin, which gives nice wide slices.  There is no reason not to bake this as a tray bake either!

Bake in a moderate oven...I used 160 Fan in my new oven!  It took about 40 minutes till a skewer came out with just that little bit of moisture which means the cake is done but not overdone.  For the last fifteen minutes I covered the cake with some parchment to stop the almonds from scorching.

Most of the cake was eaten on the day of the visit, and very much enjoyed.  I'll be baking this one for all new visitors so be warned...it is  lovely with a dollop of clotted cream or local organic sheep's yogurt when I can get it.  If it isn't in the market that week, I may just get you to cycle across a couple of miles of beautiful countryside and pick some up from Wootton Farm. Mr S prefers goat's yogurt...and his favourite is Delamere's which Morrison stocks.

Summer Holidays - Leek

In between everything, we have been staying in the Peak District. The first time we stayed in Leek. We went there on because Mr S wanted to have his first experience of driving a steam engine...he wanted me to come, but he wanted to start small. It was a great day, he said he had the most fun day since he was a child!

Here I am reversing into the coaling station for a refuel. I hope you notice the beautifully polished brass. The start of the day consisted of cleaning out the boiler with long rods, adding water, and getting the engine up to steam. Afterwards Mr S and I took turns driving up and down Rudyard Lake.
 Even though it was not a normal working day we took on a few passengers! Mr S has just told me that Rudyard Kipling's parents loved the area so much, they named their son after the place...

As for Leek itself, it was full of interest.....from medieval buildings to attractive domestic, industrial and civic architecture, every single walk out from our Town Centre house, was interesting. This is just one of the many pictures I took, here one can see the wonderful coloured glass window which looks to the rear of this upper room of a house on Stockwell Street.

If great interest to me were the wonderful hand embroidered items, the quality of which is close to those of Opus Anglicanum.

The silks are still vibrant, and it was also interesting to learn about the group of ladies who worked on these. William Morris is closely associated with the town and his influence can be seen frequently.

Whilst we were there we had time to spend the day in Macclesfield, where the Museum of Silk, and Paradise Mill were the highlights. During the week, we explored the area, and as usual I did a little foraging. A little way out of Macclesfield we walked along a trail and I spied some wild bilberries. All I could pick was a small handful, until Mr S made me a small paper cone from a guide leaflet he had in his pocket.
.

I poached them gently when we got back to our holiday house, and they were a treat with cereal and yogurt for breakfast....we also had a few on the Congleton Oat cakes too...local holiday food or what?

Congleton Oatcakes purveyor of finest Staffordhire Oatcakes

I thought I would leave a few days to get through the washing and catching up with other routines before reviewing the pictures I took on our holiday in the Peak District. That was a mistake as days have slipped by and it is nearly ten days since we got back.

There are several reasons why I want to start with this topic . I find discovering new food exciting, I had never heard of Staffordshire Oatcakes, so to find hand crafted ones, and delicious, and which can be used as a basis for all manner of meals, is one aspect of our holiday which made it special. I make a point of 'sniffing' out local specialities where ever I go. The Oatcakes are made on a skillet with batter made from oatmeal, flour and yeast, though Ian understandbly kept his recipe secret. I have found a good recipe, but mark my words, if I was within walking or cycling distance, I would go to Ian's shop for mine. Since our return, and probably because I have 'logged' these in my mind, I have seen Staffordshire Oat Cakes on the shelves of our local Sainsbury's though I have yet to compare them to the artisan ones baked by Ian Pugh of Congleton Oatcakes.

We were out for the day from our holiday home in Leek and stopped off to visit Congleton, more of this another time. On our way back to the car a little way from the town centre down Lawton Street, whilst Mr S went into a lovely sandwich shop, I peered into a nearby shop....


Most of the cooking, making and up and selling seemed to be over. The griddle had just been turned off for the day. Ian looked remarkably fresh and was very happy to tell me all about this local speciality.

As Ian stood by a stack of packed oatcakes and pikelets, he explained how they were cooked, what fillings can be used, and he laughed when I asked what they were like to freeze. I bought a pack of oatcakes, and had one of pikelets pressed into my hands as a gift. The pikelets have raisins in, and were wonderful for our picnic,and warmed up in the toaster next morning. That evening I warmed a couple of the oatcakes and wrapped around a compote of wild bilberries, which I had picked from the moors the previous day, with sheep'syogurt....delicious.

I do like wraps, having been brought up in Mauritius with the likes of Dhall Pouris, I make pancakes, and have used Mexican wraps, but oh, how exciting to find a regional speciality. I brought the remainder of the oatcakes home, and froze them. Since then we have had some and yes, they survived all of this, so next time anyone I know who is travelling that way, will be tasked with bringing some back for us. Next time we venture that way, we shall pop in for hot filled ones

As anyone who knows me, I am not one to be swayed by bribery, so my impression of the goods is in no way coloured by this friendly gesture of a pack of pikelets...except that Ian is a man of his word. I was so disappointed not to have seen him in action, he promised to email me a picture of the griddle in full action, and there were several pictures waiting for me on my return.....his spatula is just a blur in this one.