Mother’s Day has always been a special day but this year was the most special of all – my first as a mother. I had a wonderful day. Will was on baby duty the night before so I could wake well rested and would you believe Mr Ollie didn’t wake up all night (cheeky man!). Ollie got breakfast in bed and afterwards gave me a big giggle which was so cute it made me cry.
I was then treated to pressies and Will finished off building my vege gardens. We had lunch at mum’s house and for the rest of the day my ever need was catered to by my wonderful boys. It was the best day ever. I wish it was Mother’s Day every day! Now how does all this relate to cake?
Well, as usual, I was delegated my favourite job – bringing dessert. Usually I settle on the Mother’s Day cake recipe at least a week in advance but this time I was uming and ahing until nearly the last minute. On Friday I finally decided that the cake had to be cinnamon. The first cake I ever made, that my grandma taught me to make, was cinnamon tea cake so to me cinnamon pound cake is a more grown-up dessert-like version and a tribute to the original.
I used brown sugar and caster sugar in the cake to give it a bit of a caramel flavour and almond meal to make it more dessert-like. The recipe was inspired by Celia’s food-processor pound cakes. If you’ve never made one (even the basic original cake) you must. They are unbelievably easy, seriously flexible and utterly delicious.
Served up with a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream and berry coulis, this cake was the perfect end to a delicious lunch made by mum. There was just enough left over for my grandma to take an extra slice home with her. I’d hazard a guess and say it was a delicious breakfast too. It’s a little like cinnamon toast so perfectly excusable. Enjoy!
What about you? What did you do for Mother’s Day?
I forgot to get a shot of the two of us during the day so I am jewellery-less and Ollie is missing is cute shoes but I will always remember my first Mother’s Day.
- 250g (1/2lb) butter
- 120g (1/4lb) caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 130g (1/4lb) brown sugar
- 4 free-range eggs
- 100g (3oz) almond meal
- 150g (5oz) plain (AP) flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 cups icing (confectioner's) sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Milk for consistency
- Extra cinnamon and dried lavender for decorating
- Pre-heat the oven to 160C (320F) fan-forced and grease and line two 20cm (8") cake tins with baking paper.
- Place the butter in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Scrape down the sides and add the sugar and cinnamon and process until creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition.
- Finally, add the flour and baking powder and process until just combined, scrape down the sides and process just a little more.
- Divide the batter between the cake tins and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 40-50mins or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Rest for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer the cakes to wire racks to cool completely.
- To make the icing, beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and soft.
- Add the icing sugar and cinnamon and mix on low until combined then increase the speed.
- Add a little milk at a time and keep beating until the icing is spreadable and fluffy.
- Place one cake on a cake plate and spread with ⅓ of the icing.
- Place the second cake on top (you may need to trim one or both of the cakes to flatten) and ice.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon and lavender to serve.
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