A sweet and sticky chocolate caramel cake from the rare Nyamutin Farm Cookbook (1973). As promised, I’ve been digging through the archives to bring you some gorgeous vintage recipes from rare sources.
This isn’t caramel flavour as we expect in 2010, with caramel and fleur de sel or dulche de leche being de rigueur these days. Instead, 1960s housewives reached for the golden syrup. And Amen to that I say, for what results is a down-to-earth, unpretentious, uncomplicatedly glorious rich cake that tastes quite similar to a sticky date pudding.
To finish the cake, I went with a simple old-school chocolate icing, and a sprinkling of finely chopped walnuts for a little bit of crunch. This caramel chocolate cake could even be served au naturale, as the flavours in the cake steal the show on their own.
The origins of the Nyamutin Farm Cookbook are quite darling. In the late 1960s, Misses Bernice and Trixie Shaddick assembled a group of ladies in country Western Australia. They would meet at each other’s homes every two months to discuss fundraising ideas over afternoon tea. By offering their cooking and baking prowess at parties, weddings, jumble sales, and bake stalls, they would raise money for charity. Much like a scene lifted from the stunningly rendered retro TV series Mad Men. (Oh the dresses!)
The ladies developed the “Nyamutin Farm Cookbook”, filled it with their favourite personal recipes, and sold it as a fundraiser. Since the book has no glossy photos of the cakes and scant detail in the method, it really made me think about the purpose of each ingredient and the chemistry of baking with each step. Two attempts and one messy kitchen later I got the cake just right, so I’ve fleshed out the original method in more detail for you below. Perhaps one for your next soiree with the ladies…
Caramel Chocolate Cake
Submitted by P. Weatherhead
1.5 cups Plain Flour
1 large Egg
120g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 cup Caster Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1 cup Whole Milk, room temperature (microwave to heat)
1 tablespoon Golden Syrup
1 tablespoon Cocoa
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Pinch Salt
Handful of walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
Chocolate Icing:
Icing sugar (enough to form a thin paste)
1 teaspoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon cocoa
Water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan-forced). Grease a 21cm round cake tin with non-stick spray.
Cream butter and sugar together until mixture is pale and creamy. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt together. Slowly add the milk and flour mix at the same time while beating constantly on low-medium speed. Don’t worry if the batter appears a little curdled, it will bake beautifully.
Warm the golden syrup in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that it can be easily beaten into the batter. Pour 1/2 the mixture into a bowl and stir in the cinnamon and cocoa until well mixed. Pour the chocolate batter into the cake tin first, smooth the surface, then add the caramel layer. Smooth over the top with your spatula and bake for 45-55 minutes. Keep an eye on the cake in the first 10 minutes: if the edges have started to bake fast and the middle appears to sink, turn down the heat of your oven by around 10 degrees. The cake is ready if the top springs back when pressed, the centre doesn’t wobble and the sides of the cake have shrunk away from the edge of the tin. Allow to cool in the tin, then turn cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To let the flavour of this cake shine through, ice the cake with just a thin layer of a simple, traditional chocolate icing. Sprinkle finely chopped walnuts on top for a little crunch and texture.
Serve at your next ladies social meet along with a cup of tea.
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