Orange, Maple and Grape Traybake

This week a colleague brought a bag full of home-grown grapes into work that were free for the taking. Naturally, the first thing that came into my head was cake. I’d never made a cake with grapes before, and wasn’t entirely sure if it would work so I perused the internet for inspiration. After looking at a handful of recipes that included dessert wines, I found this New Zealand recipe for a simpler, lighter cake. I’ve adapted it slightly, and the end result is actually much better than I had expected! The recipe has no butter, oil or lard, but it makes such a light, moist sponge, that’s a little sticky on top. Go on, try it! You’ll be surprised!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
Rind and juice of half an orange
200g self-raising flour

½ tbsp baking powder
400 grams red grapes (preferably seedless), washed and drained

Icing sugar to dust

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and lightly grease your tin.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, caster sugar, maple syrup and the orange juice and rind. Keep whisking until it thickens.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold the mixture together. It will be quite thick.

Lastly, add the grapes and carefully mix them in until they’re well distributed through the batter.

Tip the mix into your prepared tin and spread into an even layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes until springy to the touch, just turning golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin before turning out on a wire rack and leaving to cool completely. Once cool, dust with icing sugar and cut into squares.