Shirley Cake

Remember Molly Cake? I believe I introduced you back in February. Here then is her sister, Shirley Cake.

They are definitely related, both having softened dates running through their crumb but Shirley is the slightly more sophisticated, decidedly more decadent of the two. I have known 'Shirley' since I was a child and lately I have found myself feeling very nostalgic for cakes as they used to be. Maybe I have just been in the wrong tea-rooms and cake shops lately and I know one doesn't turn to cake to  seek dietary, nutritional virtue, but it seems to me that  stylized presentation is placed above all other considerations. The cakes themselves are often little more than bland platforms for disproportionate amounts of filling and  elaborate, brightly coloured frosting. So here then is a cake where the crumb is distinctive and the frosting is simply 'the icing on the cake'.

Shirley Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 70g stoned chopped dates
• 50g walnuts chopped (plus extra for decoration)
• 130g plain flour
• 125g butter
• 65g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup

Preheat the oven to 180C,  170C for a fan assisted oven.
Lightly butter and line a cake tin. I used a square 20cm x 20cm tin.

You will need to: 

1. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with half a cup of warm water and add the chopped dates to soak.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamed and then add the golden syrup.
3. Beat in the egg.
4. Mix in the date/soda mixture.
5. Sift together the flour and baking powder and stir into the mixture. 
6. Pour the mix into the tin, level it and bake for 45 minutes. Use the skewer test to see if it is cooked properly.
7. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. When it is cool you can procede with the topping.

For the  topping.

Ingredients

• 125g dark brown Muscovado sugar
• 25g butter
• 2 tablespoons milk
•  1 teaspoon vanilla essence

You will need to:

1. Put the sugar, butter and milk into a saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
2. Boil for 3 minutes.
3. Take it off the heat and add the vanilla essence. Let it cool for a minute.
4. Use a wooden spoon to beat the mixture until it begins to thicken. 
5. Spread over the cooled cake and decorate with walnut halves.

 Tip:
 If you want the glossy, soft topping just like Mother used to make - and why wouldn't you? - then don't get distracted at the boiling stage and leave it any longer. Over beating will also make it matt and grainy (and I should know).

So when the evenings start to draw in and afternoon tea in front of the fire seems a very welcome idea then this is the kind of cake that would go down very well. Not all dark brown cakes have to be chocolate or coffee - there is scope for a dark caramel flavour too. Isn't that a comforting thought?