(Roast the cobnuts in a low oven 140c for an hour or so, until they have hardened but not darkened massively – a blackened cobnut is a crime!)

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour (Shipton Mill recommends No.113 Organic Self Raising White Flour)
1 rounded teaspoon of powdered ginger
110g butter (at room temperature)
110g light brown sugar
50g cobnuts, roasted and finely chopped (I blitz mine in the blender part of my trusty 1970’s Kenwood)
1 large egg, beaten (duck eggs are lovely in this cake)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c, grease and line a small loaf or cake tin with greased baking paper (a 9” by 4”).

2. Sift flour into a bowl with the ginger and rub in your soft butter until the mixture looks bread crumby (like you’re making a crumble).

3. Add the sugar and nuts and mix well, finally stir in the beaten eggs – the mixture should be dry and crumbly – if you over work it it’ll become like a dense biscuit mixture and won’t be such a crumbly cake. (Don’t worry – it’ll still taste sensational!

4. Spoon the mixture into your tin, and press it down gently – so it’s more of a pillow than a brick in the making!

5. Cook the cake for 20 – 30 minutes; when it’s crunchy looking on top it’s probably done – don’t worry if it’s a bit claggy looking inside – this is one of the wonderful qualities of this cake and if it’s moist verging on the wet internally, you’re on to a winner!

Wonderful fresh & warm from the cooling rack, with butter and brown sugar sprinkled on top.

Credits

Thanks for this recipe to Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods.