Polish Honey Cake

I remember being very excited about making this cake. It was one of my first issues of Delicious Magazine which I bought, and I couldn't resist trying out all the wonderful recipes. I pushed myself to make this when Eurovision Night came along, and it proved to be a great success, and it's how I love cake: a little sweet, with some hints of spice and nuttiness. My letter about my cake also appeared in the August 2010 issue!

1/4 cup (20g) flaked almonds
400g unsalted butter
1 cup (350g) honey, plus extra to drizzle
1 firmly packed cup (200g) brown sugar
3 cups (450g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
300g pitted dates, roughly chopped
2-3 tsp very thinly sliced glace ginger
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (60g) sour cream
1/2 cup (125ml) hot black tea
2 tsp vanilla extract
Thick cream or vanilla bean ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Grease a 25cm non-stick bundt pan well, then press almonds into base and a little up the sides.

Place the butter and honey in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the butter has melted. Stir in the brown sugar, then remove from heat and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, combine flour, soda, ground ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add dates and glace ginger and toss to coat.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, sour cream, hot tea and vanilla, then whisk the egg mixture into the melted butter mixture.

Make a well in the centre of flour and pour in butter mixture. Lightly whisk to a loose batter, then pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto the rack and cool completely. Slice and serve drizzled with extra honey, with cream or ice cream.

Gingerbread

I've always been drawn to desserts with a hint of savoury in it, and this is one of the first cakes I've tried, and have returned to time and again. I even whipped it up once after a Sunday matinee show of Cats, dinner at Cookie in the city, then having friends come round to our place for dessert. I initially peeled and chopped apples for this, but have now taken to using tinned sliced apples, which means you can prepare this even while dinner is simmering, and have it in the oven baking while dinner is on.

150 g (5 1/2 oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
175 g (6 oz) soft brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
225 g (8 oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
150 ml (5 fl oz) milk
1 egg, beaten
2 dessert apples, peeled, chopped and coated with 1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C (325 deg F or Gas Mark 3). Grease a 23-cm (9-inch) square cake tin and line with baking paper.

Melt the butter, sugar and treacle in a saucepan over a low heat and leave the mixture to cool.

Sift the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a mixing bowl. Stir in the milk, beaten egg and cooled buttery liquid, followed by the chopped apples coated with the lemon juice.

Mix everything together gently, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake has risen and a fine skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool in the tin before turning out and cutting into 12 bars.