On the previous page, I gathered some edible acorns from Holm Oak trees - but found them uninteresting to eat just as nuts
However, they can be made into a moist and very delicious cake.
The Recipe
Ingredients:
- 120g (After peeling) sweet acorn kernels (see here)
- 80g Self-raising flour
- 140g Soft butter or margarine
- 140g Caster sugar
- 140g Raisins or sultanans
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Rounded teaspoon mixed spices
Method:
Peel the acorns - drop them into a waiting bowl of cold water as you go, to keep them fresh.
As they're not needed whole, the easiest way to peel them is to chop them in half lengthways and pick off the shell with your fingers. Don't bother removing the thin layer of pith on the kernels.
Preheat your oven to 180 C.
Drain the acorn kernels and dry them in a clean cloth. Place them in a food processor, along with the flour, then blend until finely chopped (adding the flour at this stage helps prevent them from caking in the food processor). Keep going until the acorns are chopped to 1 mm piecee or finer.
Put all of the ingredients, except the raisins, in a large bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer until they are fully combined. Don't worry if the acorn pieces have turned dark brown by now.
Stir in the raisins, then transfer the mixture into a deep cake or loaf tin that has been greased and lined with parchment.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn down the heat to 130 C and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
Allow to cool fully before turning out - the cake is quite delicate when hot.
Serving
This cake is moist and tasty enough to eat all on its own, or it can be sliced and buttered, or iced with cream cheese-based topping - like carrot cake.
