Black pepper cake

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Today I want to share a culinary curiosity! This time we'll prepare a pleasantly spicy cake with sultanas and cranberries that we'll season with coarsely ground pepper.

 

Cake's flavour brings to mind gingerbread, thanks to ginger and cloves. The black pepper itself is not very prominent, but it leaves a nice hot sensation in your mouth. All the aromas combine nicely with sultanas and cranberries, which make the cake moist. It's hard not to reach for the next slice!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (12 x 30 cm loaf tin)

  • 200 g sultanas
  • 125 dried cranberries
  • 250 ml hot water
  • 300 g (~2 cups) wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp dry ginger
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 125 g butter
  • 150 g light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

  1. Transfer 200 g sultanas and 125 g dried cranberries into a small bowl. Pour 250 ml hot, freshly boiled water into the bowl and stir through its contents. Make sure that sultanas and cranberries are completely covered in liquid. Set the dried fruit aside to cool, covered, for around 30-40 minutes.
  2. Sift 300 g wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cloves and 1 tsp ground ginger through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.
  3. Add 1 tsp of black peppercorns to the flour.  Prior to that, grind the peppercorns coarsely in a kitchen mortar. If you grind pepper too finely, it may be difficult to taste, but pieces that are too large may be tough to bite through. Stir through the dry ingredients with a whisk, only until everything is evenly distributed in flour, and set them aside for a moment.
  4. Put 125 g soft butter into a separate large bowl and add 150 g light brown sugar. Beat the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until sugar dissolves and butter becomes light-coloured and fluffy. It is worth scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula from time to time.
  5. Once you've got uniform, fluffy butter, add 2 large eggs to it. Do it slowly, one at a time, mixing the contents of the bowl until they combine fully. Once you've got a uniform batter you can set the mixer aside, we won't need it anymore.
  6. Add soaked sultanas and cranberries to the batter, together with the liquid they are in. Stir through the batter with a silicone spatula until dried fruit are evenly distributed.
  7. Add flour to the batter in three batches, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix it gently in with a silicone spatula. Using a spatula will ensure you won't overmix the cake or damage the fruit.
  8. Transfer the batter into a loaf tin, 12 x 30 cm, lined with baking paper. Spread the batter evenly across the whole surface and even out the top.
  9. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 160 deg C, no fan, for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. If the cake browns too quickly, you can cover it with aluminum foil or baking paper. 
  10. Take ready cake out of the oven and set it aside in the baking tin for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Transfer it onto a wire rack then and cool it completely. One or two hours should be enough. Scatter icing sugar on top of cool cake.
  11. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional values

100 g

  • 350 kcal
  • Carbs: 56 g
  • Fat: 11 g
  • Protein: 5 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 15 slices)

  • 249 kcal
  • Carbs: 40 g
  • Fat: 8 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

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