Cobnuts are an extremely versatile nut, and ingredient; both savoury and sweet, they can complement rich deserts, and add flavour to traditional meals. Read on to see how we use cobnuts in our everyday cooking!
Classic Vegan Cobnut, Ginger, and Plum Cake
Perhaps the most traditional food made with cobnuts is Kentish cobnut cake, a dense sponge which is similar, in appearance, to a Victoria sponge, but with a deep ginger flavour and a dense, syrupy texture. This version has been adapted to create a deliciously warming dessert which doesn’t even need eggs or butter. An extremely versatile cake, this recipe can handle substitutions, so don’t worry if you don’t have the exact ingredients; use what you have (although results will vary). The only thing we don’t recommend you substitute is cobnuts, as they are, as the name suggests, a staple of this particular cake and give it its signature …. flavour. If you do try this recipe, please let us know by emailing us or sending us a photo.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 120 ml of oil
- 65 ml of oat milk (or other preferred milk)
- 80g golden syrup
- 80g demerara sugar
Dry Ingredients
- 190g self-raising flour
- 80g cobnuts, chopped roughly
- 4 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarb
- Pinch of salt
Finishing touches
- 4 Plums
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan-assisted) and line an 8 inch cake tin.
- Place the oil, golden syrup, sugar, and milk in a saucepan and heat over low heat until emulsified.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, chopped cobnuts, ginger, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. Stir until incorporated.
- Once the wet ingredients are combined, carefully pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and gently fold. You should have a wet, slightly runny consistency. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
- Slice and de-stone the plums, before gently placing them on the surface of the cake. Sprinkle with sugar, and then place in the oven for 40 minutes *.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the cake tin and tucking in!
Notes
* As oven temperatures vary, you may want to check after 30 minutes to make sure the cake isn't burning.
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 310Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 2.3gSodium: 107mgCarbohydrates: 33.9gFiber: 1.6gSugar: 22.3gProtein: 2g
Cobnut Meringues
Rich, nutty meringues topped with fresh fruit and cream : A decadent, yet fresh, desert.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 egg whites
- 50g caster sugar
- 50g icing sugar
- 35g chopped cobnuts
Topping
- 50ml double cream
- A handful of raspberries, blackberries or other fruit
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 100C fan/120C.
For the meringues:
Clean your bowl and whisks with lemon juice and vinegar, and then whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice until they form stiff peaks. Add the casting sugar gradually, tbsp at a time, before adding the icing sugar and nuts and folding them in gently until combined.
Spoon or pipe the meringue mixture onto a lined baking sheet, and then bake for 1 1/2 hours until nice and crisp. Leave the meringues in the oven with the oven door slightly ajar, to allow to cool.
To serve:
Whip up the double cream until slightly firm, and then dollop over the meringues, topping it off with the fresh fruit. Alternatively, to make a nutty eton mess, crumble the meringues up, mix with some whipped double cream and raspberries, and serve.
Notes
- Before making your meringues, clean your bowl and whisks with lemon juice or vinegar, and then rinse with cold water. Grease will prevent the meringue from being foaming, so a clean bowl will help them to rise.
- When sperating thw egg whites from the yolks, make sure that no yolk gets into the whites.
- In preparation for making your meringues, take your eggs out of the fridge and let them to reach room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 880Total Fat: 50ggCarbohydrates: 115gg
Cobnut, apple and blackberry cobler
A deliciously warm, autumnal desert, with a sweet, crunchy cobnut topping.
Ingredients
The cobbler topping
- 70g cold, cubed butter
- 140g plain flour
- 70g caster sugar, plus extra for top
- 30g cobnuts, chopped
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 50ml milk
Fruit filling
- 500g eating apples
- Handfull of blackberries
- 1 tbsp sugar
- A knob of butter
Instructions
To make the filling, put the fruit, butter and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated and dissolved. Leave to cool slightly.
Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan/190C.
For the cobbler, rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the egg and milk with a fork, and then pour into the dry ingredients, mixing to form a thick batter.
Put the compote/fruit into an oven proof dish and top with spoonfulls of cobbler. Sprinkle with sugar, and then bake for 35-40 minutes. Once nice and golden brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool
Notes
- Serve with clotted cream, double cream or even sour cream.
- Filling can be swapped out for alternative fruit. Try plum and apple, apple and raspberry, or other desired fruit combinations.
“Cobnuts have a fresher flavour than any other nut I know of and go very well with autumnal fruit and light cheeses.”Yotam Ottolenghi