Serves: One cake
2.5 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
4 eggs (whole)
1 tbsp baking powder
100 gm raisins (or) sultanas
Rum to soak raisins
2 tbsp rum
75 mls whole milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp salt
Maple syrup (or) plain syrup for brushing cake to glaze
3/4 cup butter (melted)
Method:
Soak raisins overnight in rum, in a non-reacting small bowl. Heat oven to 180 degrees. Heat around 60 mls of water in a pan to reach 40 - 45 degrees and pour in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. In a smaller bowl, add sugar and place over the bowl of hot water. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add eggs after being cracked first into another bowl. Whip eggs and sugar over a hot water bath, until it thickens. Remove bowl from hot water bath and continue whipping until drops of mixture fall to stay on top. Add vanilla, molasses and rum, to gently mix, by means of a hand spatula. Fold in sifted mixture of flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, lightly, and in batches, to avoid lumping. Mix in the melted butter with electrical beater, only for less than a minute. Fold in drained raisins by spatula. Discard marinade. Pour batter into prepared lightly greased and flour dusted rectangular baking tin, filling it only up to 75 per cent.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or when top is firm to the finger touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly in tin, then brush syrup on top; enough to moisten the surface. Slice and serve when completely cool.
N.B.: For a moist cake, ALWAYS place; on the bottom shelf of the oven, while baking; a pan of water to diffuse vapour.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 January, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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