Last weekend I made 14 pots of marmalade. I don’t make marmalade every year, but it is something I like to do if I have time because homemade is always tastier. I have early memories of my parents making marmalade together in our small kitchen using a massive preserving pan (because I was small it seemed even bigger I suppose). I used to make marmalade the traditional way squeezing the juice and cutting up raw peel, but it makes my hands hurt. The method I prefer now is cooking the whole oranges until they are soft and then cutting them up and scooping out the insides.
I thought I would use some of the newly made marmalade in a seasonal cake! I did some internet research for marmalade cakes and found a few that sounded lovely. There’s a Nigel Slater one here, and a fruity one from Delia Smith here. I nearly went for a very tempting muffin style recipe. I think I may have to make that one in the near future! However in the end I chose a recipe from one of my favourite food bloggers/recipe developers – Kellie Anderson at Food to Glow. Cranberry Swirl Marmalade Cake. Mmmm! Yum!
Now you are right to think that there ain’t no cranberries in that cake. That is because it is January now and the shops don’t seem to stock them anymore! Huh?! I was quite disappointed that I couldn’t find any cranberries, but rather than leave it plain I dropped in a few frozen raspberries before baking. Otherwise I did the recipe exactly as it is written. I am SO pleased I chose to make this marmalade cake over the others (although I am sure they are very nice too!). The flavour is complex and deep, almost savoury while definitely being a sweet cake. Hard to describe, but totally delicious. I think the combination of buckwheat, ginger and marmalade is key to the complexity of flavours. I will certainly be making this one again. And searching out cranberries too.
I have been out for a run (10 miles) this morning so I think I can put my feet up for a bit with a cup of tea and piece of cake!
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Eat Cake And Run 