Little loaf cakes are fun to make and great for small snacks or in lunchboxes for adults or children. These mini damson madeira loaf cakes are perfect to share!
Did you catch the first episode of The Great British Bake Off this week?
If you’re anything like me you’ll have been looking forward to this moment since the last series finished. It seems ages ago since Nancy won back in October last year.
I’m not sure how we’ve managed to get by, but it probably involves cake (and biscuits, pies and tarts, bread, patisserie…).
This week, in a nod towards one of this week’s bakes on GBBO, I’ve baked mini damson madeira loaf cakes, using damsons (plums) from my garden.
I spotted the deep purple of these lovely plums up in the trees, and, risking the neighbours thinking I am even more crazy than they first suspected, got up on a chair with a broom to encourage some down.
Our haul will be enough for a small batch of jam as well, fingers crossed.
If you fancy making some small loaf cakes for batch cooking or filling up the cake box for the week ahead, then these make a nice change.
Ingredients
Here’s what you will need for the recipe – quantities are in the recipe card further down:
- butter
- caster sugar
- eggs
- self-raising flour
- baking powder
- milk
- lemon zest
- damson plums – or other small plums
Method
- Cream the butter and the sugar together until very soft.
- Add the eggs one by one and mix well.
- Fold in the flour and baking powder.
- Add the milk and lemon zest and mix until just combined.
- Prepare the mini loaf tin by spraying each cell in the tray with cake release spray.
- Divide the cake mixture between the cells evenly and spread it out well.
- Cut each damson in half, remove the stone and place two or three halves (depending on the size of the damsons) on top of each loaf cell. Press them in gently.
- Bake at 180°C for approx. 20 minutes, until golden on top of the Madeira cake and a cake tester comes out clean.
If you were listening to Mary Berry, you will know that for Madeira cake you are looking for a dome and a crack to form on the surface of the cakes, and a light but close texture.
These mini loaves have a light lemon flavour and the damsons turned bright pinky-red in the oven.
More madeira cake recipes
If you want more ideas with madeira cake, check these out:
- Lemon and raspberry madeira cake from the Cake Trail
- Slow cooker blueberry madeira cake
- Gin and tonic madeira cake from It’s not easy being greedy
Recipe
Mini Damson Madeira Loaf Cakes
Ingredients
- 110 g (½ cups) butter unsalted, softened
- 110 g (½ cups + 1 tbsp) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 2 medium eggs
- 175 g (1 cups + 1 tbsp) self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp milk
- Zest of a lemon
- 10 damson plums
Instructions
- Cream the butter and the sugar together until very soft.110 g butter, 110 g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- Add the eggs one by one and mix well.2 medium eggs
- Fold in the flour and baking powder.175 g self raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder
- Add the milk and lemon zest and mix until just combined.3 tbsp milk, Zest of a lemon
- Prepare the mini loaf tin by spraying each cell in the tray with cake release spray.
- Divide the cake mixture between the cells evenly and spread it out well.
- Cut each damson in half, remove the stone and place two or three halves (depending on the size of the damsons) on top of each loaf cell. Press them in gently.10 damson plums
- Bake at 180℃ / 350℉ for approx. 20 minutes, until golden on top of the Madeira cake and a cake tester comes out clean.
I am linking this post up with Jenny from Mummy Mishaps and the Great Bloggers Bake Off (#GBBOBloggers2015).
Stacey Guilliatt (Nobody Said It Was Easy) says
Ooh these look delicious, I could just gobble one up right now! 🙂 #gbbobloggers2015