A moist, spicy cake with a fruity flavour. The tradition of making good, plain cakes grew up in the country, where a cake was part of an early supper, eaten at the end of the day in winter or before a last bout of work in summer.
MAKES 8-10 SLICES
Serve this plain but well-flavoured bread thickly sliced and generously buttered.
200 g (7 oz) plain flour
5 ml (1 tsp) ground ginger
5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
50 g (2 oz) butter, diced
50 g (2 oz) light soft brown sugar
60 ml (4 tbsp) orange marmalade
1 egg, beaten
75 ml (3 tbsp) fresh milk
25 g (1 oz) candied orange peel, chopped
1. Grease a 750 ml (1 1/2 pint) loaf tin, then line the base with greaseproof paper and grease the paper.
2. Put the flour, ginger and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
3. M ix together the marmalade, egg and most of the milk. Stir into the dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough. Add the rest of the milk, if necessary.
4. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin, level the surface and press the candied orange peel on top. Bake at 170°C (325°F) mark 3 for about 1 1/4 hours or until golden brown. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
