Hot Cross Spiced Easter Cake

You know those moments when you’ve worked hard at something and it comes together just as you hoped it would? When you feel proud beyond measure at what you have been able to achieve all by yourself? That’s how I feel about this cake. The idea came to me late one night just as I was drifting off to sleep… I got to work on it the next day and here we are! This hot cross bun inspired cake is soft, moist, flavoursome and has Easter written all over it. I feel very proud!

Bake it and see for yourself ;)

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8” (20cm) cake tin with a little butter and line the base with baking paper.

2. Add the softened butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat them on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and creamy (this is called “creaming”).

3. Add the eggs, vanilla and yoghurt/milk and gently beat (on lowest speed) until just combined (about 20 seconds).

4. Sieve the the flour, baking powder, spices into the wet mixture. Then, add the currants and orange zest. Fold all ingredients together until just combined (it’s ok if there is still a few clumps of dry flour, we don’t want to over mix the batter).

5. Pour batter into the lined tin.

6. Place the cake in the preheated oven to bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through (you’ll know it’s cooked through when a skewer is inserted into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean).

7. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (make sure to remove the baking paper so it can breathe).

8. Before serving, prepare the hot cross glue: combine flour and water in a jug and use a whisk to combine.

9. Transfer glue to a piping bag or a small ziplock bag. Trim the corner and pipe onto the cake in a cross shape. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and serve!

NOTES: You could use a hand-held mixer if you don’t have a stand-alone electric mixer.