I cracked two eggs whilst making another batch of Lavender Cupcakes the other day so I had to make soemthing else as well (of course I did). These jammy buns are from a nice little book my sister sent me Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute: Cakes and Biscuits (only their cakes and biscuits apparently) by Jill Brand. This recipe looked nice and simple but I didn’t put nearly enough jam in them, and I used plum as I didn’t have any rasberry. They are very scone-like and great with a cup of tea, they need to be eaten fresh or in a couple of days – so hard.

225g SF flour
pinch of salt
80g margarine (I used butter)
80g caster sugar
2 eggs
Jam of some description

Rub the fat into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, mix well to form a stiff dough – (the dough was not stiff at all for me at this point so I added more flour.) Turn the dough onto a floured surface and form into a roll, divide int 10 pieces and roll each one into a ball.
Place on  a greased baking tray and make a hole in each one (making sure not to go all the way through ) and fill with a little jam – more than I did – a big teaspoon I’d say. Close the whole and spinkle with sugar, although if you left the whole open and flattened them a bit they’d be a lot like jammy dodgers. Bake at 180 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool a little on the tray before turning out onto a wire rack.

The other cake in the photo is the carrot cake version of the beetroot cake I made recently but with dates instead of raisins. This recipe is very moist and light but it does crumble a little in the middle when you cut it – rather annoying.

My sister-in-law Riette once made us a delicious South African dessert, which was very much like a steamed pudding even though it was baked in the oven. I then discovered this recipe in my Green & Black’s cookbook – another South African dish with that wonderful steamed pud texture to it, made ‘tipsy’ by the boozy syrup. I made it at Christmas as an alternative to the conventional pudding and in honour of Riette and her homeland! It’s best served with custard we think. The G&B book has its own twist (mainly just have got it into the book if you ask me – you could easily leave out the chocolate). I would never have though this kind of dish would come out of South Africa as I imagine it to be roasting hot all the time (obviously not true), but apparently they’re very into their hot dinners!

Batter:
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
240g dates, stoned (or 250g with stones), chopped
125ml/ 4fl oz boiling water
40g unsalted butter
200g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
25g preserved ginger, chopped
100g glace (yuk) or dried cherries – definitely dried!
40g walnuts, chopped (last time I used pecans)
50g dark chocolate, minimum 60 percent cocoa solids

Syrup:
75g granulated sugar
200ml water
salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g unsalted butter
60ml brandy or dark rum

Oven and 180 degrees, grease a 23cm flan or pie dish well with butter (needs to be quite deep).

Pat the bicarb over the dates and pour over the boiling water, stir and leave to cool. Cream the butter, sugar together and add the eggs, beat thoroughly. Sift together the flour, bp and salt and stir into the creamed mixture.
Add the date mixture, cherries and nuts. Spoon the mixture into the pie dish and bake for 35 minutes. Place the chocolate in the freezer. Prepare the syrup – you need to pour this over the tart as soon as you get it out of the oven. Boil all the ingredients for the syrup together for about 6 minutes until they form a syrup.
Remove the tart from the oven and prick the surface all over with a fork. Immediately pour over the syrup then grate the chocolate over the top. Delicious! Great with custard on a winter evening, or any time really.