Baking fairtrade - Coffee and Raisin Cake

THE BIG FAIR BAKE - Buy it, Bake it, Share it

I am getting involved in the Big Fair Bake - Fairtrade Baking Challenge, I think it great when you bake something that in a small way makes a difference to the world we live in. Baking with fairtrade ingredients is something that I do where every possible in my recipes, because supporting fairtrade means that you offer growers and workers all over the world a fair price for their produce or product and a better life long term.

Foodies100 is running a challenge to create a baking  recipe using ingredients which are fairtrade which you cake bake and share with friends and collegues to raise awareness of Fairtrade.

As part of the Take a step campaign , you have a chance of winning a lovely Kitchenaid blender, all you need to do is visit the Fairtrade website and tell them who you are baking for ! Easy or what.

You can buy lots of baking ingredients that are fairtrade such as

• Coffee
• Sugar
• Raisins
• Cinnamon
• Honey
• Chocolate / Cocoa powder
• Bananas
• Apricots
• Ginger
• Brazil nuts
• Tea
• Vanilla

To name just a few, so next time you are out shopping if you have the choice buy fairtrade. Because this little tiny action makes a big life changing different to producer.

This is an easy recipe and is well liked in the Lancashire Food household , perfect for serving with a mug of fairtrade tea.

Ingredients

• 450ml strong freshly brewed coffee (fairtrade)
• 300g granulated sugar (fairtrade)
• 110g butter (vegetable margarine if you wish to make vegan version)
• 150g raisins (fairtrade)
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (fairtrade )
• 375g plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarb of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method

• Pre heat the oven to 180c/ 170c fan / Gas 4
• Line a deep square cake tin approx 20 cm by 20cm
• Sieve the flour, bicarb and baking powder into a bowl
• In a large pan bring the coffee, sugar,butter, raisins and spices to the boil, allow to cool slighty
• Mix the coffee mixture into the flour, stir until well mixed
• Pour into your prepared tin
• Bake for 45 -60 minutes, until tested cooked with a skewer
• Cool in the tin
• Decorate if you wish with melted chocolate or flavoured buttercream

The cake smells wonderful whilst cooking , a little like a cinnamon latte . As the recipe does not contain eggs it can easily be made vegan by substituting vegetable margarine for the butter. Pretty sure it would work well as gluten free too.