Baker's Corner: Mini Jammy Cakes

After what seems like eternity, I am in India. Hooray! I'm introducing my little ones to my hometown, to the house I grew up in, to my friends and family, to our culture and traditions and to everything that makes me look forward to going back home 😊 The tots were a dream on the flight from Singapore to Bangalore and were equally good on the drive to Mysore which took place immediately after. Not a peep out of either of them throughout the long journey. I must thank my lucky stars✌😅 

In the coming weeks, they have quite a number of things lined up - their cradle ceremony, getting their ears pierced, their naming ceremony and their uncle's wedding. It is going to be an eventful first holiday for them as it is going to involve considerable travel and meeting a lot of new faces. I hope it doesn't upset their routine too much *fingers crossed*

It was hubby's birthday last month and as preoccupied as I was with the girls, I still wanted to bake him a cake. I didn't have much time to browse through my numerous cookbooks so I grabbed the first book I laid my eyes on and settled on a recipe that looked easy to make. It was a recipe for these Mini Jammy Cakes. I'd never made mini cakes before so I thought I'd give it a go. From start to finish, the whole process took less than an hour and the cakes themselves were quite good. I reduced the quantity of sugar in the recipe since my in-laws were around and preferred their desserts not overly sweet so they were able to enjoy it too. The recipe calls for ground mixed spice and since I didn't have any ready made spice mix with me, I made my own using cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, ground cardamom and cloves. From what information I found online, cardamom is not typically found in ground mixed spice but I heavily recommend that you use it because it gives that lovely perfume to the cakes. But then again, not many people are crazy about the flavour of cardamom in their desserts so it's your call. This is a great dessert to whip up for tea time or when you have guests coming over.

I'll probably feature one of my mum's and MIL's signature dishes in the coming weeks while I am still here so keep a look out for that.

Hope you try this recipe folks
I
Mini Jammy Cakes

Preparation time: 25 min
Baking time: 10 min

Makes: 24 Mini Cakes

Recipe category: Dessert/Western

Recipe level: Very Easy

Recipe Source: Mary Berry 100 Cakes and Bakes

Ingredients:

225g (8oz) self-raising flour or alternatively you can use 225g plain/all-purpose flour sifted with 3 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground mixed spice (a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger and allspice)

50g (2oz) butter, softened

100g (4oz) caster sugar

1 large egg, beaten

3-4 tbsp milk

a little blackcurrant jam

a little icing sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Keep all your ingredients ready

2. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C/ Fan 180 deg C/ gas 6. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

3. Measure the flour, ground mixed spice and butter into a bowl, rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

4. Mix the egg and milk together and stir into the mixture, adding only enough of the liquid to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into 24 pieces and roll each piece into a smooth ball.

5. Using the handle of a wooden spoon (I used the blunt end of a wooden chopstick), make a depression in the centre of each dough ball and put about 1/4 tsp jam into each one.

6. Place the dough balls (jam side up) onto the prepared baking sheets. I made the cakes in one batch since I was pressed for time but I suggest you make them in batches of two i.e. 12 each. 

7. Bake for 8-10 mins until the cakes turn a pale golden brown. Lift them off the tray and allow them to cool a little. 

8. Dust with icing sugar and serve slightly warm. 

Notes:

• You can use any kind of jam in this recipe but jam made from berries like strawberry jam, raspberry jam, blueberry jam and blackcurrant jam work best
• If you don't want the cakes too sweet then reduce the amount of sugar and skip the dusting with icing sugar

Cheers,

Megha