Recipe: Fifi's Country Cake

I'm typing this to you eating the last of the 12 slices of my country cake I shared on my instagram a few weekends ago. It's the first time I've ever baked a country cake and it took me and Neil by surprise just how tasty it turned out!

Not too dry, not too under-cooked (deep fill cakes are easy to under cook in the centre), plenty of filling but not over powering either, and damn good with a cuppa tea. I'm really proud of it!

The recipe is my own variation from Mary Berry's Easy Fruit Cake recipe published on Homes & Property a while ago. So if you have a nut allergy and want a country cake recipe that's simple and delicious, follow that. 

My pecan filled recipe is below (and it's better!! Sorry Mary!)

Fifi's Easy Country Cake Recipe

Ingredients (Makes 12 slices)

225g Vegan Dairy Free Butter
200g Caster Sugar
4 Large Eggs
225g Self Raising Flour
100g Ground Almond
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
400g Sultanas
100g pecan nuts (put 15-20 aside for decoration)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C). Grease a 20cm deep cake tin or silicon cake tray

2. Take out a large mixing bowl and cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until it's fluffy, then gradually add in the eggs a little at a time. Beat them well between each addition to prevent curdling (tip from Mary Berry!)

3. Fold in the flour, ground almonds, and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until all the ingredients are well mixed together.

4. Set aside 15-20 pecans for dressing the cake, and chop the rest. Then, fold the sultanas and chopped pecans into the cake mixture. Stir it with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

5. Spoon the mixture into your greased cake tin / silicon cake tray and level it out using a spatula. Take your leftover pecans and position them on top of the cake mixture, dressing your cake. I did a clock formation, starting with 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm, then filled in more pecans evenly between the spaces. 

6. Put the tin into the oven and bake for 90 - 120 mins. Test the cake when your timer goes off by sticking a skewer or chopstick down the middle of the cake. If the skewer comes out wet and sticky, return the cake to the oven to cook further. When the cake is done, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cooling tray.