Hamiathes' Gift Cakes

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

So, so... After various delays including cake "theft" and a bit of barbaric surgery on a par with that in QoA, when one of my goats broke a horn and had to have it removed with a wire saw and red-hot iron :(, here's my Thief Cake Recipe. I can't figure out how to post photos in a comment, so it's a second cake post :)

I think I'd better begin with the punch-line photo:


As the Magus did not say, we can bake a copy of it!

[Yes, I know the yo-yo book cover is SO not like the proper thing, but I couldn't resist!]
Hamiathes' Gift Cakes (makes 20, of course)
The recipe:
10 oz plain flour
2 oz oatmeal
6 oz butter
4 oz sugar
1/4 pint natural yogurt
1/4 pint warm water
grated rind of one large orange
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
20 pieces of fresh figs or apricots

Stir oatmeal, flour and soda together, then rub in the butter to make crumbs. Stir in the sugar and orange rind. Mix yogurt and water in measuring jug until like thick milk, then add to dry ingredients and beat until smooth. It should be a sloppy, "spooning" consistency. Divide between 20 greased muffin tins (or paper cases if you hate washing up). Press a chunk of fruit into the centre of each bun, until only a very little is showing above the cake mix, like the sapphire in the Gift. Bake at 375F/190C for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before turning out.

Such a boring little river stone...


To be more like the Gift, I could have glazed them with honey, or piped fine runes around the top. Also, dried rather than fresh fruit might not have shrivelled up in the oven and vanished, as you can see in the first photo. But believe me, it was there -- and was very nice too!