A nice cup of tea and a slice of...

...raspberry jam ripple cake.

Yeeeeeeees. So... I'm not proud about this but the thing is... the jam I bought in Ennis the other day for the in-laws... Not quite all of it is going to make it back to them. Not in the jar anyway. They're more than welcome to have some of this gorgeous cake though. I think they'll understand.*

It's a very simple, lazy day kind of cake to create. The sort of thing you make with your mum when you're too small to see over the top of the kitchen counter and you clamber onto a chair to take part in the incredibly serious business of swirling in the jam. (Of course, the jam goes everywhere but into the cake but that's not the point.)

Homely, uncomplicated and the perfect accompaniment for a strong brew.

Raspberry jam ripple cake from the Donna Hay magazine, issue 2 (autumn)

You'll need:

125g unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1½ cups self-raising flour, sifted
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup milk
½ cup raspberry jam
1 tablespoon boiling water

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5 and line a 20cm round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs and beat in well. Stir through the flour, almonds and milk.

4. Spoon half of the cake mixture into the tin. Mix the jam and boiling water in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon half of the jam over the cake mix in the tin, top with the remaining batter, then spoon the remaining jam over the cake. Swirl the jam through the cake using a palette knife or a butter knife.

5. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.

Cook's notes

Oops. I forgot to mix the jam with the boiling water, which I presume makes it easier to spread. Oh well, it still worked out ok.

This cake took about 65 minutes to cook in my oven, rather than the 50 or so specified.

Other good flavours that might work: blueberry, gooseberry, plum, maybe lemon curd... Just about anything!

*Besides, there's still a lovely jar of pink grapefruit marmalade for them, so I don't feel too bad.