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purple gooseberry, lemon and rhubarb cake – an alphabake

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… now I realise that this may seem like the most tenuous link ever but I did, honestly have the alphabakes challenge in mind when I made this cake… let me explain… the alphabakes challenge, hosted alternatively by Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes has the letter T as it’s theme this month… as you can imagine it’s a wonderfully easy one… T for Traybake… T for Tart Tatin… T for Trifle… T for Tiramisu… you get the idea… but as is typical of me i’ve gone slightly left of field…

… I was a little bored yesterday and decided that cake baking was simply the only thing to do and sometimes I like to just open the cupboard, then open the fridge and take my influence by stealth… sadly the fridge was pretty bare, one duck egg, one hens egg and a little butter… and the baking cupboard is in desperate need of a re-stock since I had a clear-out at the weekend… 4 year-old jellied orange slices lurking in a dark corner could perhaps be thrown out… so I only had a small bag of flour to work with…

… however, I suddenly remembered i’d asked my dear neighbour Tracey to pick my ripening purple gooseberries whilst I was away in Spain, which she did and placed in her freezer… so I let myself in to her home, took my gooseberries and helped myself to a couple of stalks of rhubarb whilst I was there… I realise this makes me sound like a total thief but we do have an understanding… I raid her larder in return for cake…

purple gooseberry, lemon and rhubarb cake
and so on to my cake and the letter T… you see I think that with the gooseberries, the rhubarb and the lemon honey this is a tart cake… that’s tart with the letter T
500g raw fruit (you can use any fruit, chopped small or if berries, left whole, fresh or frozen)
175g sugar
175g butter
250g self raising flour
1 duck egg
1 hens egg
a little milk to slacken 
the grated rind of one lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
– pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease and line a loose-bottomed springform tin
– cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
– add one egg and beat in in
– sieve in half the flour and beat in
– add the other egg then the rest of the flour, the lemon rind and cinnamon and beat in
– add the fruit and combine (it will be really thick, so add a little milm to slacken)
– pour into the cake tin and bake for 40 mins or until risen and golden
eat and of course, enjoy!

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Comments

  1. I think you are drawing a long bow here to incorporate that letter T! Having said that let me say this….. a bloody good cake. One that I will definitely copy!

  4. LOL.. a bit of a stretch on the T, but hey, I'm totally with you… You could go with Terrific Tart too.. that way you have two T's 🙂
    Either way, the cake looks amazing!!

  5. He he, Dom you are so cheeky but I love this even more for it 🙂 I think we should start a new “Be as tenuous as you can with your bake challenege entries” challenge. Ever month we set a theme and the person with the most convoluted link wins.

  8. Tart? Tarty? Who care, it looks scrumptious Dom. Those gooseberries are a fantastic colour. I'm hoping our gooseberry bushes might actually produce next year – we have two red and two green – in theory!

  10. Tracy's Fruit Cake – see it was easy to use the T! The fruit combo sounds so good. x

  11. Looks very good to me – actually, terribly good (that starts with a T). I've really enjoyed the gooseberries this year – they're a seriously underrated berry.
    Oddly enough, I've been called a Cake Tart before now.

  13. It is so much fun as well as a challenge to come up with a delicious treat when the larder is nearly bare! I don't have gooseberries but do have rhubarb in the freezer. This “T” is for tart may be mixed up for the weekend. Your description leading up to this creation is delightful. Thanks.

  16. I do like a cake with fresh fruit in the summer – this looks lovely Dom. It's great that you have such a good relationship with your neighbours.

  20. A tenuous link indeed which also starts with T so I'll let you off ;P Absolutely gorgeous cake – well done for making it from your almost bare cupboard. Love it!