How to say “thanks!”
Now, although my food photography skills have slowly been (in my opinion) improving, I’ve never been able to take nice landscape and scenery shots. I ended up finally getting together with Melbourne Flickrite Adam last Saturday, and though I doubt I’ll ever take pictures quite as well as he does, he did manage to give me a few pointers as we walked around the city for half the day, shooting photos and shooting the breeze.
However, as he was unselfishly donating half his day to me, how on earth could I return the favour? The only thing that I could think of was to provide him with a few baked goods, and so after checking that he had no food allergies (just a severe dislike of walnuts), I set about making a list of little sweet treats that I could make in exchange for his time. This was all well and good until I realized on Friday morning that all the stores had closed. That’s right - I’d neglected to remember that Good Friday meant public holiday, which meant that there was nowhere I could go to stock up on baking necessities, this being quite a problem as my pantry stocks had gotten rather low!
I was rather upset over the fact, and considered cancelling the lesson till I would be able to make a basket of yummy things, but at around 8pm that night I decided that I’d just try a few things with what I had, and if they turned out alright then I’d just take whatever meagre offerings I could muster and just hope not to disappoint!
With my coconut macaroons made, I wondered what else I could make to fill this little goodie basket, and whilst idly flipping through my cookbooks I came across this simple little recipe that I happened to have all the ingredients for, and which looked nice, simple and tasty without much fuss. I’d actually eyed this recipe off in the past but had never attempted it due to my kid brother’s extreme dislike of dried fruits. I’d once made my carrot cake with sultanas, and he was upset because he loved the cake but hated the fruit. The result? He cut himself a slice, sat down, and proceeded to pick out every single little sultana in his slice.
As my brother happens to be on a diet at the moment (don’t get me started - the only boy in the house and the fittest member of my family, he’s built like a rock and he’s the one dieting!), I had no qualms about making a cake that would be brimming with something he hated. I mean, he wasn’t going to be eating anything so what did it matter, right? I hummed and tripped merrily around the kitchen as I baked this cake, and when I pulled it’s gorgeous, golden-brown body out of the oven and cut a slice, my entire family clamoured around me for a slice.
Huh? Wait - what??
That’s right, even my sultana-detesting brother was begging for a piece of this sultana cake.
Me: “Uhhh, Martin…you realize that this is a sultana cake, right?”
Martin: “Yup! I’ll just have a little bit without so much sultana!”
Looking doubtful, I cut him a small slice and plated it for him, and watched as he headed over to the kitchen table with a glass of milk. He sat himself down, picked up his fork…and proceeded to tear the slice apart as he hunted out every single sultana, pulling them aside into a small pile on the side of his plate! Ah well, little brothers - you gotta love ‘em huh?
This cake is ridiculously easy and gives you a result which is thick, dense, buttery and rich. It’s not much of a looker, but goes down great with a cup of tea. Whilst best when fresh, it can be enjoyed later by giving it a light grilling and spreading the side with a little salted butter 
Sultana Cake
(from Family Circle’s “Classic Essential Cakes”)
Ingredients
250g butter
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sultanas
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C, and line a deep 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl till light and fluffy, then gradually add the eggs, making sure to beat well after each addition. Beat in the zest and vanilla till just combined.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then fold in the flour alternately with the buttermilk. Once that’s done, stir in the sultanas.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth down the surface with a spatula. Bake the cake for 1 hr - 1 hr and 30 minutes, or till the cake is golden on top and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in tin before removing onto a wire rack. Cool completely, then cut into slices and serve with a little butter if you wish
This nice and simple cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week, and is well suited to a nice afternoon tea with your neighbour or a friend! 
Technorati Tags: sultanas, cakes, recipes, baking, brothers, family
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Comments
Tanna See, I always love cakes with buttermilk! That’s really a lovely simple cake…I so wish I had a slice with my green Earl Gray!
Patricia Scarpin I think your photos are great, Ellie. And I’m not a fan of dried fruit either, but this cake I would eat in a heart beat!
Ellie Ed - I think a great deal of the improvement has to do with my swanky new camera (I’m still using a point-and-shoot, can’t afford to jump up to a dSLR quite yet) Tripod would be good for your evening/low-light restaurant shots…have you thought about getting Adobe Lightroom? It’s ridiculously brilliant for post-processing of photos
Lucy - Cheers hon!
Tanna - I’d never actually cooked with buttermilk till I started this blog, and now that I know what it’s like, I’ll never go back! I laughed when I read your tea choice as that’s actually the tea in the cup in the photos 
Kat - Hehehe, I think it was well recieved
Cheryl - Aww shucks, thanks sunshine
Patricia - Thanks hon I’ll save a piece for you then, hrm? 
Deborah Dowd #1- I just love the name sultana- it conjurs up images of Arabian nights, #2- You have inspired my. I have a good friend who is a photog and I think I will see if he is willing to exchange a (desperately needed) lesson for goodies (the edible kind!). Until then I will keep using photo management software to improve my food photos!
gilly Hi Ellie - gorgeous cake, and gorgeous pictures of said cake! Oh lordy, I love sultanas!
Helen I love dried fruit so much I have a difficult time saving enough to put them in cakes! The pics are great and the recipe even better!
Lisa Those pictures are fantastic!!
And you are a sweetie for making him these treats!
I am a raisin addict (I’m assuming sultanas are what we yanks call raisins?) so this cake looks way too good to me! Thanks for sharing =)
Truffle What a wonderful gift and brilliant photos. I love the lighting, makes it look even more delicious!
Ellie Gilly - Ahh, a fellow sultana lover There need to be more people like us out there!
Helen - Hehehe, I know exactly how you feel! Glad you like the photos
Lis - Aww, my pleasure hon
Truffle - Cheers Can’t take the credit for the lighting though, that was just the morning sunlight on the day!
You are lucky your pics are improving. i feel mine are going backwards, especially when i take pics in restaurants. I guess i’ll have to dust off the tripod …