My nan has made this cake ‘for donkey’s years’, as she would say. And the best bit is she’s still making it. Nan knows what she’s doing when it comes to baking – she’s a pro.
Ingredients
- 4¼ oz (120 g) butter, at room temperature
- 4¼ oz (120 g) caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 6¼ oz (180 g) self-raising (self-rising) flour
- 2 tablespoons milk
- cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve
PINEAPPLE TOPPING
- 2¼ oz (60 g) butter, at room temperature
- 2¼ oz (60 g) brown sugar
- 8 tinned pineapple rings
- 8 glacé cherries
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4) and line the base of a 23–25 cm (9–10 in) non-stick cake tin with baking paper.
- For the pineapple topping, beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy, then spread over the base of the tin. Lay the pineapple rings on top in a single layer and place a cherry in the centre of each ring.
- Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Sift in the flour and beat thoroughly, then stir in the milk and keep mixing until you have a smooth batter. Pour into the tin and cook in a moderate oven (as Nan would put it) – that is, bake on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for 30–35 minutes. Cool for a minute or two, then turn out onto a plate.
- Nan suggests serving with cream or ice cream… sometimes both is a good option, and if my grandad’s got anything to do with it, he’ll definitely encourage that.
