Elderberry Tottenham Cake

 Tottenham Cake with elderberry icing

Inspired by the post on Bowes and Bounds, I made a Tottenham Cake for the Tottenham Ploughmans.

In response to requests here’s the recipe. The cake recipe comes courtesy of  Bowes and Bounds and Netmums.  Inspired by the fact that mulberries were originally used to make the icing, I used elderberries.  This reflects the historical colour; purple, not pink.  The elderberries really do add a fruity taste as well as a majestic purple colour. Excuse the ropey photo taken on my phone.

For a basic traybake you need a 12 x 9 inch traybake or roasting tin, greased and base lined with baking parchment.

Ingredients:
8 oz butter
8 oz sugar
10 oz SR flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
4 tbs milk

Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until well mixed. Don't overbeat or the mixture won't rise. Pour into the prepared tin and bake at 180 deg (fan 160 deg) or gas mark 4 for 35 - 40 minutes. Cool in the tin then turn out.

Icing
8 oz sifted icing sugar
Approx 3 tbs elderberry ‘syrup’
Approx 4 elderberry branches

For the syrup; pick the elderberry branches when most or all of the berries are dark black. Don’t pick any branches that are covered with black fly!

Give them a good shake to remove insect life. At home, rinse and soak if necessary. You now need to get the berries off the branches. Easiest way to do this is with the tines of a fork. Do it straight over a saucepan. Add water to cover the berries and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, mashing the berries as you go for about 10-15 minutes. Add a little more water if it looks as if the mixture is running dry. Over a bowl, use a sieve to remove the berries and keep the liquid. Rinse the pan and put the liquid back. Simmer again until it’s reduced to a syrupy consistency.  You can always add a little more water if you forget about it. Cool.

Mix the icing sugar together with 3 tablespoons of elderberry syrup. You may have to add more icing sugar or elderberry mixture to achieve a thick spreadable fondant like consistency. Spread over the cake. When set cut into squares.