Waste not, want not
I’m sure anyone who’s a bit of a cake-baker knows this story - you’ve made a lovely little teacake or sponge to be enjoyed…and while it tastes marvelous, for some reason or another (perhaps, you’ve baked a sticky date cake which the family have been much more drawn too *cough cough*) there’s a few pieces that have lasted longer than they should have, and rather unfortunately they’ve begun to get a bit dry and a bit stale.
Well, when it happens to bread, the solution is easy - turn the bread into breadcrumbs! But what to do when the leftovers aren’t exactly going to work with making some sort of fried fritter thing, hmm?
This was the dilemma that I was faced with a few weeks ago. After making my own birthday cake - a magnificent genoise sponge filled with fresh fruit and cream (which I couldn’t photograph as I finished it an hour before the frantically last-minute birthday dinner), I was left with 2 layers of sponge that had to be left out of the cake due to their already being too much. I carefully stored them in an airtight container in the fridge with a notion that I’d use them to make some sort of trifle-y thing later on.
If it hasn’t been made obvious by now, my memory is absolutely SHOCKING, so guess what? I forgot about the leftover sponge pieces! Honestly, it truly is a wonder that my head remains attached to my neck, even though they’re physically bonded I swear I would’ve forgotten one or the other on a bus by now…
Anyway, back to the story. A week later when I was doing my fortnightly cleaning of the fridge, I stumbled across the container of cake and immediately felt the colour rise in my cheeks (well, I felt the blush, thanks to my olive complexion it probably couldn’t be seen!) - whoops! I had actually planned on making muffins that day, but I figured that I should probably do something with the rather dry pieces of sponge before they went bad…after all, I am my mother’s daughter, and if there’s one thing she’s taught me, its waste not, want not!
Though the original plan had been to make some sort of trifle, I had no cherries of the canned or fresh variety at home and really didn’t feel like making the trip out to the store just to get some…and to be completely honest, I had really had my heart set on muffiny goodness, so I sat and stared at the cake as I pondered on my current dilemma. What on earth could I do in order to use these cake bits to make some delectable thing that could fulfill my muffin cravings?
Well, since a trifle was no longer on the menu, I decided that my creation would most likely be baked, and so I began to crumble the dry cake till I had a bowl of fine cake crumbs that I was left staring at.
Ok, so I admit it - I actually didn’t know what the heck I was doing, and crumbling the cake just seemed like a good idea at the time! However, once I had crumbled the cake, things sort of fell into place…looking at the bowl, it was obvious that some wet ingredients would need to be added in order to bring it together into some sort of mixture, so an egg was added. Hmm, too dry, perhaps another egg? After which I was concerned about it turning into some sort of cake-crumb omlette, so I got out the milk and cream and debated with myself before throwing caution (and calorie counting!) to the wind and added a good dollop of cream.
At this stage, I was pretty pleased with how things were looking, but it needed more. A finger dipped into the forming batter confirmed that, yes, a little added sugar would probably be a good thing, so I added one and two spoons, stirred them in and tasted again. Yup, definitely coming along alright, but how about texture? After all, while the batter tasted great, it was just a smidge on the boring side!
As walnuts are a constant in my pantry, I grabbed a small handful of those, gave ‘em what for and tossed them in as well, then decided to add some vanilla and sultanas just for the sake of it.
I have to admit that when it finally came time to put these in the oven, I was as nervous as all heck…I’d never actually done any haphazard baking like this before and since I wasn’t doing any sort of adapting or research, I didnt even know what temperature or for how long they should be baked.
In short - what the HECK was I doing?!
Nonetheless, it was far too late to back out now, so into the waiting oven the ramekins went, as I plonked myself down in front of the glass door to anxiously watch and wait. And wait. And wait.
Amazingly, the little beauties did me proud as the puffed and browned, and when a skewer stuck in the middle confirmed the lack of egginess, I pulled them out to take a bite - and proceeded to burn my tongue. After a few expletives and an ice cube had worked some magic on the burn, I decided to try again, being cautious enough to blow on the spooned bit before taking it into my mouth.
And I have to admit here that it was too dry. Tasted great, but I wanted something a bit spongier and moister. Whilst I thought custard would’ve been great, I couldn’t be arsed making any now, so I grabbed some cream from the fridge and poured it over the waiting ramekins. Seeing the little puds drink up the cream like a man out of the desert, I giggled as I poured some more, only stopping once the cream started to pool on top, the cake no longer able to absorb anymore. As it turned out, this final step gave me these wonderful little cakes which fulfilled my muffin cravings and my calorie intake for the day!
So, if you’ve got some plain cake lying about the house and want to use it up rather than tossing it out, may I suggest this recipe? Its not gourmet and its certainly not fancy, but its just right for fulfilling the needs of a sweet tooth and saving those last few scraps of cake!
Cake Crumb Pudding with Walnuts and Sultanas
Ingredients
2 cups finely crumbled cake crumbs
2 medium sized eggs
1/2 cup cream
2-3 tbsp caster sugar (depending on how sweet the cake crumbs are)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Flaked almonds and more caster sugar for the top
Cream or ice cream, to serve
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
2. Mix together the cake crumbs and the eggs, then stir in the cream till well combined. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix again.
3. Add the walnuts and sultanas and mix till well combined, then spoon into ramekins till 2/3 full and sprinkle flaked almonds and caster sugar on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or till a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before pouring over some cream to be absorbed by the still-warm cakes. Enjoy with a pot of herbal tea to make up for the giant calorie injection you’re about to have 
Technorati Tags: muffins, puddings, cakes, recipes, baking, sweets, desserts
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Comments
Hanne That looks delicious! I love the addition of walnuts, yum! I’ve made "bread pudding" with leftover bits of cake, which is really good too, especially when you use cream and not milk.
Tartelette Better than bread pudding! This looks amazingly comforting and delicious! I love the pretty dishes too.
Ellie Vicki - Aww shucks, not really! Just a little sense of adventure and faith in your abilities will take you a long way
Peabody - Cheers hon 
Patricia - Thanks sweetie!
Hanne - Oooer, now there’s an idea! I’ll give that a try next time!
Helen - Thanks hon And I love my little ramekins too - the wonders of keeping an eye out for sales
Chris - Thanks hon
Linda Ahh, finally I know how to use up my leftover cake! I particularly like the fact that they ended up swimming in a pool of cream. My arteries will hate you! 
That’s absolutely amazing! I can only dream of being so imaginative and adventurous.