Cornish saffron cake

We were staying at my folks’ place in northwest Devon, which is near to the Cornish town (well, village, as aside from a great pub, all the shops have been killed off) of Stratton. I read that they used to grow saffron there, so when I found some saffron in the cupboard, some fresh yeast in the local health food shop in Holsworthy (a better shop than many health food shops in London), and Fran said her dad loved saffron cake, I just had to make it eh?

The recipe was from Jane Grigon’s fascinating English Food, a superb book that was a rallying cry for real national food written years before the real and regional food movements of the noughties. As with many books that deal with historical recipes (like the similarly essential, similarly vintage, similarly patriotic English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David), not all the recipes are entirely credible in the modern domestic scenario, but this one worked reasonably well. It’s my first time, and in future I’d half the quantities and bake it in small loaf tins as this time the recipe was enough for one monster loaf and one overflow cake tin (pictured).

There are plenty of saffron cake recipes knocking around online, including one included by this like-minded blogger. Thanks Anna. Your Saffron cake looks like it has a more even texture than mine, less stodgy, though possibly slightly drier, more like panettone (the yeasted fruit cake that’s an Italian distant cousin to this British classic).

Sorry, bit of a long entry, but baking and history gets me going!