Cup of tea? Slice of cake?

Part 1: Cake - the basics

Well I have well and truly settled into the notion over the years that some of my interests are a little on the nanna-ish side. That is a fondness for jam making, a commitment to the healthful benefits of a cardigan and a clean hankie, a warm rosy glow of love for all things that grow in gardens, a delicious indulgance for vintage tea cups (ooh matching side plate as well as saucer!), penchant for pickles and chutneys and a social life that often involves a Brittish period drama, a not-too-violent detective show with some 'nice young man' in it.. or since culling the teve, an early night curled up in sensible pjs reading.

Oh - and cups of tea, lots of cups of tea.

On that theme, and as a gesture of solidarity with other young nannas (see here for more info on this legitimate social movement - although movement at a nice sensible pace, none of this rushing about senselessly...) I thought I would share a recent cake favourite.

I recognise that cake can seem a little indulgant and not connected with *the people* (the whole 'let them eat cake' thang), and not so great for those who have vowed never to eat carbs again, and your standard cake recipe is not going to be a hit with those who don't eat animal products or who have gluten intolerances. So, that said, and the shortcomings of cake acknowledged, lets get down to business.

Some of you will be reading this disdainfully mid-way through spinning toffee for your 7 layer saffron and honey gateux whilst others will be feeling a little edgy at the notion of facing a cooking task that requires delving into your hitherto untouched stove nether regions. These handy hints are aimed at neither or both.

There are lots of basic cake recipes out there to provide your cakey back-bone. Look for the buttercake or pound cake or tea cake or something similar. For the record creaming butter and sugar really isn't hard, even if it does have that mysterious ring of finding the lost city of Atlanta about it. Don't worry, you can do it, and even if you do a crappy job the worst that will happen is your cake might have a few largish sized air holes in it - nothing that can't be explained away by calling it something exotic, or distracted from by the use of good icing or something clever with fruit. It will still be a cake, and it will still taste fine.

Now, if you are lazy (I often am), don't own a wooden spoon, have RSI, or don't want to do the hand held electric mixer thing, but want the warm innner glow of making your cake from scratch, don't despair. This cake recipe was given to my mother by an older artist friend of hers who we would drop in on from time to time when we were living in the Adealide Hills. She would say 'coffee? cake?' when you arrived and if you answered in the affirmative would proceed to make one. It was in the oven in literally minutes and a nice surprise for the second trimester of the visit. I admired this woman's non nonsense approach to life, driving a sporty green MG around windy hill roads well into her late 70's, tackling wall-sized canvasses and living an unconventional life. I also admired her no nonsense approach to cake making.

Jo Caddy's Quick Cake Mix
1 Cup cream
1 Cup sugar
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
2 eggs

Beat all the wet ingredients and then add the flour and flavourings. Stir with some vigour using wooden spoonuntil there are no dry clods of flour to be seen and narry a lump either. Pour into tin ( either line tin or use non-stick). Bake till cooked.

Now if you are feeling daunted by the prospect of the above, or want to start out with something more exact, more sure-fire, then there is no shame in the cake-mix. Lots of brands and types out there, and they are very good to modify. My fave of late is the Green's brand vanilla cake or buttercake. Both are good, and the reason I go for that brand is that it sports no artificial colours or flavours. A while back when I realised that the chocolate colour in packet-mix chocolate cake owes more to the combination of palette-loads of artists colours than it does to cocoa I started going for the Greens brand.

Next time, the fun bit - different flavours and types, including the Summer 05/06 fave the rose and cardomom cake and recent entry, the honey spice cake. Plus things with plums. So start picking out the good china...