Mary Hanson Moore, in her A Yorkshire Cookbook features a recipe for Sour Milk Cake, regarded as a ‘great favourite in the North Riding’ (now North Yorkshire). In the days before refrigerators in homes, milk souring was a common occurrence and this recipe avoided the milk going to waste. These days, if you haven’t got any sour milk, you could use natural yoghurt instead.
Ingredients
- 8 oz (225g) butter
- 1 lb (450g) plain flour
- 8 oz (225g) sugar
- 8 oz (225g) currants
- 2 oz (50g) mixed peel
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
- 1 pint (20 fl oz/575ml) sour milk
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Method
- Rub the butter into the flour, then add all the ingredients except the syrup and milk.
- Warm the syrup and pour into the centre of the mixture.
- Mix to a soft dough with the milk.
- Bake in two bread tins in a moderate oven (gas mark 4-5/350-375 F) for 1 hour
Source: Mary Hanson Moore. A Yorkshire Cookbook (1980). David & Charles. ISBN 0715378929
3 Responses to Sour Milk Cake
“Bake in two bread tins” is not helpful. What size and shape are the tins please. Are they lined?
Judging from the amount of ingredients in the original recipe, two 1lb/450 g loaf baking tins would do the job.
Lovely simple recipe, I baked in two loaf tins at 190C and it made a light fruity cake, used sultanas not currants as that is what I had and no fruit sunk to the bottom. The cakes were a great success!