Almond and Raisin Tea Loaf - Recipe

Bonjour!

The other day I discovered a packet of (almost out of date) flaked almonds lurking at the back of the kitchen cupboard ... I also had a stray egg that was a couple of days old hanging about in the fridge ... good excuse as any to throw something together then ...

6oz/180g Self Raising Flour
4oz/125g butter/marg
1 egg
3oz/80g sugar (I used Demerara)
1 1/2oz/40g raisins
1 1/2oz/40g flaked almonds
A few drops vanilla essence
4-5 tbsps milk (approx)

Nothing new here (there rarely is with my cooking!) - mix up the flour, butter, egg, sugar  and vanilla essence with the milk to give a good consistency (add more milk if you think the mixture is too stiff - I'm sorry ... I can't say the work 'stiff' without thinking 'mistress to bishop'!). Stir in the raisins and almonds. Place in your desired loaf tin - mine's approx 21cm/13cm.  Bake on 180 deg conventional - I guess that would be 160 deg fan (I don't have this luxury at the moment as our fan oven is broken - we've had it fixed once and it's gone again so have given up for the moment!) or Gas No4 (but I've never used a gas oven so you'd have to double check!) for 45-50 minutes.

It's not overly sweet as I've tried to lessen the sugar (although the raisins compensate for this) and does have a slightly firmer (ooh matron!) consistency than a standard cake type thing (must be just the one egg) but tastes lovely sliced up and spread with a bit of butter with a good strong cuppa!

What's been lurking at the back of your kitchen cupboard lately?


Jen x


PS. Apologies ... I appear to have had a 'Carry On' moment or two there!