Bishop's Cake
Mrs. S's Recipe

OK! I confess. Bishop's Cake is not a traditional Greek food.

So what has this got to do with the Greek Islands? You quite rightly ask.

Well ...

The rather tenuous link is that we (Mrs. S anyway) always makes one to take with us on holiday. It is particularly welcome for our Greek adventures both on land and afloat.

There is nothing better than a good cuppa and a piece of cake when navigating the high (Ionian) seas.

So...

The Cake

It is a very old recipe using fruit and nuts, given its name supposedly because when it is cut, the slice resembles a church stained glass window. Traditionally it is baked at Christmas but we have it any time.

It can be kept in an airtight tin or wrapped in foil for up to a week, hence ideal for packing on an adventure!

Here you can find out how Mrs. S makes it.

STOP PRESS! After some feedback from someone trying out the recipe, Mrs S has reduced the cooking temperature (Maybe our oven is odd!)

first ...

The ingredients

Imperial Weights

  • 4 oz. glace cherries

  • 2 oz. blanched almonds

  • 2 oz. angelica

  • 4 oz. chopped candied peel

  • 8 oz. plain flour

  • 2 oz. ground almonds

  • 1 oz. sultanas

  • 8 oz. butter or margarine

  • 8 oz. caster sugar

  • 3 eggs

  • 3 tablespoons milk

  • 6-8 lumps of sugar (optional)

Or New Fangled Metric

  • 120 gr. glace cherries

  • 60 gr. blanched almonds

  • 60 gr. angelica

  • 120 gr. chopped candied peel

  • 240 gr. plain flour

  • 60 gr. ground almonds

  • 30 gr. sultanas

  • 240 gr. butter or margarine

  • 240 gr. caster sugar

  • 3 eggs

  • 3 tablespoons milk

  • 6-8 lumps of sugar (optional)

Mrs. S uses the original English imperial units.

The metric version will give you a slightly bigger Bishop's Cake. Umm! Perhaps we should use that one instead.

then ...

What to Do

If you want to see and hear it all demonstrated by Mrs. S, jump straight to the video
  • Grease a loaf tin 9¼ x 5¼ x 2¾ inches (24 x 14 x 7 cm) and line with greased greaseproof paper.

    Or ...

    Better still line an un-greased tin with some cake baking sheets as recommended by Mrs. S in the video.

  • Cut cherries into quarters, chop almonds and angelica.

    Put them into a bowl with the candied peel, flour, ground almonds and sultanas. Mix together.

  • In a another bowl, cream together the butter (or margarine) and sugar until light and fluffy and then beat in the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Not all at once as that makes it a bit lumpy. However if you make a mistake it still ends up just fine.

  • Fold the mixed up fruit and flour mixture and the milk into the butter and egg mixture. The result should have a dropping consistency.

  • Dropping consistency is a technique of getting a consistency required of cake mixes where the mixture isn't soft enough to fall easily off the spoon but slides off reluctantly after a few seconds.
  • Turn into the cake tin. Make a slight hollow in the middle of the mixture to allow for rising.

  • Optional - Roughly crush the sugar lumps and sprinkle them on top of the mixture to give a crispy crunchy topping when cooked.

  • Bake in a moderately hot oven (350° F, 180 ° C, Gas mark 4) for 1¾ hours. You may need to cover it in foil for the last ¼ - ½ hour or so, to stop the top burning.

  • Take your Bishop's Cake out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Then wrap it up to take on holiday or eat it.

and finally ...

The Video

Cooking a Bishop's Cake

You have read the words. Now see the video ...

Mrs. S shows you how she made the latest cake which we took to Corfu.

It looks pretty simple even I could do it I reckon.

Try it yourself. Here's how.

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