This is “Nell Olliver’s Superb Pineapple Cake” as made by our Gran, Eleanor Ruth Olliver, and scoffed wholesale by Vik as she drove him home from school. Some of these details are things he remembers, but the basic recipe was provided by Aunty Mary. If you like a rich cake with a soft crumb that sticks to your ribs, this is the one to make.
Ingredients
170g Soft brown sugar
110g Butter
Sml tin Crushed pineapple
225g Plain flour
2½ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Salt
2 Eggs
110g Glacé cherries
340g Mixed dried fruit
1 tsp White sugar
Instructions
Put all the contents of the tin of pineapple, the sugar, and butter into a saucepan big enough to stir all the ingredients in and bring to the boil. Cut the heat, dissolve the sugar as best you can, and let it all cool off enough to not scramble the eggs.
Gran would set her oven to Gas Mark 2 to warm up at this point, which these days is 130C for a fan oven, and 140C for an ordinary electric one.
Gran bought self-raising flour, which was invented in 1845 by the British baker Henry Jones for the admiralty as an alternative to broken hard tack biscuits. We buy plain flour in bulk and just add our own baking powder and salt. Either way, put that in the saucepan with the eggs, glacé cherries, and dried fruit. Mix thoroughly.
A loaf tin was the container of choice for Gran, and I recall she lined it with buttered greaseproof paper. Pack the mixture in, and leave the surface a little rough so it goes crunchy. Assist this by sprinkling a little white sugar over the top.
As a loaf shape, this takes about 1¼ hours to cook. Allow it to cool on a rack for as long as you can before scoffing the lot.
It keeps well, in theory anyway.
V1.0 vik@olliver.family.gen.nz (C)2020, GFDL Applies
Printable PDF here.