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Sri Lankan love cake
A legacy from the Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka, Alfred Prasad's love cake recipe features a supreme combination of citrus peel and cherries, nuts and spices. This is a fantastic cake that pairs wonderfully with a warm cup of tea, making a cosy treat for any afternoon. The cake tin suggested is the best size for the cake, but you can use any high-sided tin for good results. Garnish with some jelly babies if you are feeling playful.
First published in 2015
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Ingredients
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Love cake recipe
- 50g of glacé cherries
- 150g of unsalted butter
- 350g of caster sugar
- 6 eggs
- 3 tbsp of honey
- 2 tbsp of rose water
- 1 orange, zest only
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 200g of cashew nuts, unsalted, roughly chopped (optional)
- 250g of semolina, coarse
- 25g of mixed peel
- 25g of crystallised stem ginger
- icing sugar for dusting
SAVE RECIPE
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 150˚C/gas mark 2 and line a 20 x 30cm (10 x 12 inches) cake tin with baking paper
2
Dice the butter and leave in a warm place to soften. Once soft, cream the sugar and butter in a bowl using a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy
- 150g of unsalted butter
- 350g of caster sugar
3
Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add the honey, rose water, orange and lemon zest, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon. Use a spatula to gently fold through
- 6 eggs
- 3 tbsp of honey
- 2 tbsp of rose water
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
4
Next fold through the cashew nuts, semolina, glacé cherries, mixed peel and crystalized ginger until combined. (If you are not using cashew nuts, replace with 200g extra semolina.) Do not over mix as this will ruin the final texture of the cake
- 200g of cashew nuts
- 250g of semolina
- 50g of glacé cherries
- 25g of mixed peel
- 25g of crystallised stem ginger
5
Turn into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a pale golden colour on top. The cake comes out best in a slow-cook process and should ideally feel chewy on top and moist in the middle
6
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes. Turn out of the tin, dust with icing sugar and serve
- icing sugar for dusting
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