Keeping cakes

[Doris_Pinks]

I am baking my apron off  to raise money for Fridays Macmillan coffee morning.

Now the thing is, how long will cakes, scones etc. keep?

With 2 teenagers, they never stick around long enough in this house to ever find out! ;D 

Today have made cheese scones, date slices, Flapjacks and a couple of apple cakes. (those I know will be OK on Friday) Am about to make lemon and sultanan scones.

Tomorrow Cherry cake, sponge cake thingys (A tray bake) and whatever else I decide to do.
Do I need to be freezing everything???........oh please say no as my freezer is packed!

[Doris_Pinks]

[Obelixx]

Dunno Doris but what about making cakes that need a few days to mature eg malt loaf, banana loaf and fruit cakes such as Westmoreland tea cake.

[Vez1]

If they are in air tight containers they should be fine until friday.

[Doris_Pinks]

Good idea Obbelix, but the sad truth is they are usually more expensive to make (fruit etc) and I provide the ingredients, so I tend to make do with what I have in the cupboard :-\    Made loads of courgette cakes last year which go down really well, but wouldn't you just know it, rubbish courgette harvest for me this year!
Have got a carrot cake in the freezer to cut up though.
Err whats a westmoreland tea cake?  Recipe please? ;D
And if anyone has a good gooey malt loaf recipe I am willing to give it a go if I have the ingredients!

Thanks for that Vez, even the scones?

[rosebud]

Greasproof paper and an airtight tin will be fine Doris used it on many an occasion, wrap the cakes up and pop them in the tin i must say i always sellotape round the tin  (over the top i know ) but it puts my mind at rest.

[daisymay]

I've got a big round belly you can borrow if you run out of storage space - they sound fab!!!  ;D ;D

My mum still has some tray bake and fruit cake that she made for a church thing (and made one extra of each for them, am doing my best to get through it when I visit!), think mum made them 2 weeks ago and they are still OK - in a tupperware box, so sure you will be fine for Friday

[Obelixx]

Sorry Doris - It's a Borrowdale Teabread and an old recip so all in old measures:-

9oz flour
9oz hot strong tea
1/2 level tsp bicarb
1 large egg, beaten
1lb mixed dried fruit
6 oz soft brown sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1oz melted butter
Pinch of nutmeg

Combine the fruit, sugar and hot tea in a bowl and stir well then leave overnight.  Next day, heat oven to 325F or gas mak 3 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

Add the egg, butter, rind and nutmeg to the fruit mixture then seive on the flour and bicarb and fold in well.  Pour into the tin and bake for 1 hour or until firm.  Leave in the tin for 30 minutes then cool on a rack.   Wrap in foil or place in a tin for at least 24 hours to develop the flavour.

Haven't got a recipe for malt loaf to hand but you should find one by googling or on the BBC food site.

What about a gingerbread?

8oz butter, softened at room temperature
8 oz soft brown sugar
1lb flour
2 level tsp ground ginger
1 level tsp cream of tartar
1 level tsp bicarb (or skip these two for two level tsp of baking powder)
Pinch of salt
1 tbs golden syrup

Heat oven to 325F Gas 3 and grease and/or line a shallow, oblong tin about 12" x 7".

beat the butter and sugar in a bowl till creamy then stir in the syrup then seive and fold in the rest of the ingredients.  Put the mixture into the tin and press it down firmly with afloured fork.  Bake for 40 to 60 minutes. leave to cool in the tin but cut into fingers while still warm.  When cold, store in an airtight tin.

If you like, I can also give you my chocolate carrot cake recipe which needs to be made the day before eating.   It's wicked but you need decent chocolate.

[supersprout]

Delia's cake book has a nice keeping cake, called Guinness Cake. When baked on Sunday it was ready to eat Wednesday and not before ... so my son calls it Wednesday cake.  ;D It kept til 9.15am wednesday ;D ;D

[Mrs Ava]

Hmm, I always think scones are bestest freshest.  Everything else I would have thought fine, and we manage to keep a 'heavier' cake for at least a week...justabout!

That tea bread sounds great!  Tomorrow I need more sugar and the fruit and I think I will give that a go.  YUmsky with butter on I bet!

[wardy]

I make All Bran cake and that's much better when left for a day or two as it's too chewy to eat on the day it's made and improves with age.  Don't we all  ;)

[Obelixx]

Hi EJ - the teabread goes down very well when I have the builders in - partly because it's yummy and partly because Belgian builders aren't used to being offered coffee and cakes to keep them going and fruit cakes are not in the national repertoire.

[wardy]

When I had the builders in THEY used to bring the cakes  ;D  Boy I do miss those builders  ;D

[beejay]

Wow, what builders. My daughter used to make buns for our buiders a few years back. They thought she was wonderful & she was chuffed to bits.

[GREENWIZARD]

All Bran cake

~any chance you could post the recipe-please :)[/color]

[moonbells]

All Bran cake

~any chance you could post the recipe-please :)[/color]

weirdly I was going to post my Allbran malt loaf recipe too - it's probably the same one!
1 mug allbran
1 mug brown sugar
1 mug milk
1 mug sultanas
Mix in a bowl and leave overnight. It goes very gooey.

In morning, add 1 mug SR flour and an egg. Mix well and pour into a 2lb loaf tin. Bake Gas 2 for 2 hours.

moonbells

[GREENWIZARD]

thanks m :)

[Doris_Pinks]

Thank You Obbelix, as you can see your Teabread and Gingerbread turned out great! Unfortunately I didn't get to taste the teabread as it sold quickly, but I did sneak away some of the gingerbread, absolutely delicious, just like a ginger shortbread!
Anyhow I managed to raise £257.47, so was very pleased!

]

[Obelixx]

That's a pretty amazing result.  Well done.  You must be very, and deservedly, chuffed.

[wardy]

Great fundraisers  are cake stalls  :)  Well done DP  :)

Sorry for not replying GW - just came back to this thread.  I'll dig the recipe out  :)

[busy_lizzie]

Congratulation DorisP.  They all look fantastic, no wonder they went so quickly.  Well done for making such a good amount.  :P busy_lizzie