Recipe for Marmalade Cake with Honeycombed Filling

From The Duchy Originals Cookbook

Equipment: Silicone sheet or baking tray lined with greaseproof paper 4 litre (7 pint) thick-bottomed saucepan Sugar thermometer Cake tin with removable base, 24 x 8cm (10x 3in)

For the honeycomb: 75g (3oz) Duchy honey

150ml (¼ pint) liquid glucose

400g (14oz) castor sugar

100ml (3½ fl.oz) water

15g (¾oz) bicarbonate of soda

For the Cake: 250g (9oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

250g (9oz) caster sugar

3 large eggs and 1 extra yolk (about 250g/9oz in total)

250g (9oz) flour

2 tsp baking powder

50g (2oz) ground almonds

150g (5½oz) Duchy Originals Seville orange marmalade, plus 2 extra tbsp

100ml (3½ fl oz) double cream

50ml (2floz) crème fraîche or sour cream

Start with the honeycomb. First loosen the honey and glucose syrup by dipping their containers in warm water, then weigh out into your saucepan. Then add the sugar and water and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Gradually raise the temperature of the pan’s contents to 150C (300F). Something dramatic is about to happen.

Carefully sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda into the pan. The contents will fizz up like lava from the underworld, but don’t be alarmed, this is what puts the tiny air bubbles into the honeycomb. Stir the mixture to make sure all the powder is incorporated, then pour it out onto your silicone sheet (or baking tray). Leave to set for at least 30 minutes, then break the brittle mass into small pieces.

Then take 100g (3½ oz) of the honeycomb and blend it in a food processor. Store the remainder in an airtight jar — you will have more than you need — and you are unlikely to regret it.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease the cake tin with butter, then shake a little flour over it to form a non-stick barrier. Turn the tin upside down and pat it so that any excess flour falls off.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl for 3-5 minutes until pale, light and fluffy. Lightly beat the eggs, and slowly add them to the butter and sugar, mixing them as you go. If the mixture starts to curdle, beat a little flour into it to bring it back.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and add the almonds. Mix until the contents are smooth. Fold in the marmalade with 4 swirls of the spoon to ensure that the cake is marbled. Then gently pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven until cooked and firm (about 50 minutes).

Turn the cake onto a wire rack. When it has cooled, cut it through the middle with a long serrated knife and lift off the top half.

Spread the bottom half of the cake with the 2 extra tablespoons of marmalade. Then whip up the honeycomb with the cream and crème fraîche until stiff, and blob it over the marmalade. Replace the top of the cake and leave it to set in a cool place for an hour. Then tuck in….

Notes:

* To take a short cut: You can buy ready made honeycomb in some sweet shops and specialist food shops.

* Try a local honey and homemade marmalade when making the cake.