I’d never tried a sultana cake before making this recipe and I really liked it. It’s moist and buttery and delicious! And easy to make.

The author says this is a very popular heritage recipe she updated from an old South Island sheep station cookhouse notebook. It would have been made to feed the shearers or musterers for smoko (“smoko” is a term used in New Zealand and Australian English for a short break such as a rest or a coffee/tea break).

Step by step recipe below, and list of ingredients at the end of the post!

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Put the sultanas in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.

Place the sultanas in a bowl and pour the brandy, whisky or tea over (I used tea because I didn’t have any brandy or whisky). Leave to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Grease a 20 cm round cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. At this point my mixture curdled quite a bit but that didn’t affect the cake’s final appearance or taste.

Add the sultana mixture and vanilla extract to the egg mixture and combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture.

Fold in the dry ingredients.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean (recipes says to bake for 1½ hours but 1 hour was enough for my cake).

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container (the recipe says the cake keeps really well, retains its moistness and even travels well in a stockman’s saddlebag!)

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Farmhouse Sultana Cake

From The Great New Zealand Baking Book, copyright © Jo Seagar

Serves: 10-12 | Prep time: 20 mins, plus cooling | Cook time: 1 ½ hours | Skill level: 1 (easy)

Ingredients

• 500 g sultanas
• ½ cup brandy, whisky or cold tea
• 250 g butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Method

Put sultanas in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain. Place sultanas in a bowl and pour the brandy, whisky or tea over. Leave to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 160°C. Grease a 20 cm square cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sultana mixture and vanilla to the egg mixture and combine. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture and fold in.

Pour into tin and bake for 1½ hours, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Where to buy the book:

Bookreps New Zealand

Whitcoulls

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