Try these easy picnic cakes... simple to make and great to make ahead for your picnic.

Cakes ... find recipes below

• Chocolate cake... made with black beans and dates
• A very special sponge cake... from my Mum
  
• Butterfly cakes... a bit of fun!
  
• An easy banana cake... an old family favorite that my family has often made
• More to come!
  

 So let's start with this chocolate cake...

without flour or sugar, it's an easy picnic cake made with the sweetness of dates...

It is a cake with dates!

Make a lovely moist chocolate cake... for 10-12 people.

You will need to...

•   Begin by heating oven to 180C ( 160 fan forced)
•   Grease a deep 20cm round spring form cake tin. Line base with grease proof paper.

Gather your ingredients for this easy picnic cake ...

•  1x400g tin black beans... drained and rinsed well 
• 15 soft fresh dates, pitted and roughly chopped... use lovely moist dates, not the hard dry variety! If you do have dry dates, just soak them in boiling water, drain and use.
  
• 1tabspn Vanilla extract
• 6 eggs
• 2 tabspns strong black coffee
• 150g coconut oil
• 60gm cocoa powder… ¾ cup

• ½ teaspoon carb. soda
• 1 teaspn baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• Approximately 150 g fresh fruit… plums or, pears, apricots or, strawberries and blueberries or, pitted cherries, raspberries, bananas... your choice!

       Method....

• Beat... beans, dates, vanilla, 3 eggs and coconut oil all together in a food processor, until finely chopped and smooth.
• Add remaining ingredients and beat together. It will look quite moist.

• Pour into spring form cake tin lined with grease proof paper.
• Place your chosen fresh fruit on top of the cake and push gently into the mixture. Plums, sliced, were used for this easy picnic cake. Our trees were laden with fruit and I just "had" to use them... and they were delicious... but you can use your favorite fruit.
• ... So, use approximately 150 g fresh fruit… plums or, pears, apricots, peaches or, strawberries and blueberries, pitted cherries or, raspberries, bananas, apples... your choice!
• Pop into the oven... 180C ( 160 fan forced) and cook for about 30min, or more if still very moist. Sometimes, depending on the fruit, it can be 10min or more, even longer!
• It will be very moist.
  
• The cake finished cooked cake looks cracked on the top, but this is the cooked plums, soft and delicious!
  
• Let cake stand in tin for 10 min, at least, after removing from oven and before turning out onto cooling rack.

To decorate this easy picnic cake...

• You can use your favorite fresh fruit. I have used mine here... mixed berries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries... just scatter across the top of the cake.

• Then scatter clean edible flowers amongst the fruit. Please make sure they are edible clean flowers, not sprayed with poisons!
• I took these to the picnic on a little plate, with a small amount of water to keep them fresh...  and covered them in biodegradable plastic film. Could be in a reusable plastic container too.
• The berries and flowers and strawberry leaves, were put on the cake at the picnic... it only takes a couple of seconds to do this.
• Give a light sprinkle of icing sugar if you wish... it does look good and adds a little sweetness.

A good dollop of thickened cream... or yogurt... is excellent with this easy picnic cake!

Now, a treat for you, another easy picnic cake... the very best, easy sponge cake recipe!

This is the sponge cake recipe used by my Mother, Nance.
Nance used this easy sponge cake recipe for many, many picnics in the bush.
It wasn't a proper picnic if we didn't have a sponge, or lovely fruit cake, made by my Mum.
Boil the billy for tea (as shown on the "My Story " page) and... bring out the sponge cake!

This easy sponge cake recipe was also very popular for trading tables...
to raise money for our school and many other charities.
In fact, the cakes were often sold before hitting the trading table!
Nance was famous for her light, moist , delicious sponge cakes.... the best ever!

Note... The sponge shown here is a small one, using half the mixture only... and the remaining sponge cake mixture was used to make butterfly cakes... below.

Sponge Cake recipe...
this will make two sponges to sandwich together... or for you to make butterfly cakes.

 For easy picnic cake you will need...

• 4-5 eggs (depending on their size)
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• Top the cup up with cornflour... 1/4 cup
• A little extra butter and cornflour for greasing and lining tins
• Pinch salt
  

      Method....

• Grease 2 x 8" sponge cake tins with warmed butter
• Sprinkle with cornflour and tap over the tin and tip off excess flour
  
• In a large cake mixing bowl... Sift flour together, three times... to aerate and make your sponge light
  
• Heat butter and milk together, put aside
  
• Separate eggs
• Beat whites with a pinch of salt until soft but firm
• Add sugar and beat until it dissolves... not too stiff
• Add egg yolks and beat until creamy yellow
• Sift flour... already sifted 3 times... into beaten eggs... fold together
• Then fold in cooled milk and melted butter...  don't over mix, just fold together until just mixed.
• Pour half mixture into each sponge tin
• Cook at 350-375c for 20 min

To make a chocolate or coffee sponge...

Leave out one tablespoon SR Flour and add 1 heaped tablespoon cocoa, or coffee, instead.

When sponges are flavored with chocolate, or coffee, then butter icing with a touch of cocoa or coffee is excellent... often this is the best way to decorate when going out on a hot day for a picnic.

Nance often used Passionfruit in her icing... and we loved it!

How to make butterfly cakes...
Made from the mixture used in the easy sponge cake recipe.

If you are taking children to the picnic, or perhaps someone has a birthday...
or you just want to have a bit of fun... this is what to make!

There are different butterfly cake ideas... they can be put into patty pans, can be big, or smallish like these.

You will need to...

• Make the sponge cake mixture above.
• Grease and flour patty tins ready to fill with sponge mixture.
• Set oven to 350-375C and bake for 12-15 minutes.
• They will be cooked when golden brown .... and you can gently push your fingers onto top of cakes and cakes spring back when your fingers are taken away... Just as you did for the sponge.
• Turn out onto cooling racks.
• Use half of small cakes for wings. Cut into half.
• Top one whole small cake with jam and dollop of cream.
• Place the thick side of cakes cut in halves, together, to form wings.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar.

To make this very easy Banana Cake…

You will need…

• 60gm (2oz) butter
• 90gm (3oz) sugar
• 2 bananas… old soft bananas!
• 1 egg
• 125gm (4oz) self raising flour
• 15 soft dates
  
• ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
  
• 2 tabs cold water

To Put together....

• Melt butter
• In blender, or food processor... add butter, sugar, egg and soft bananas and dates... beat well.
• Pour into a bowl and sift flour on top of the beaten mixture.
• Stir all together.
• Last of all, add Baking Powder… dissolved in water... stir well.
• Bake for 30min in Moderate oven 175C (350F)
• A rectangular log tin works well for a cake going to a picnic. This makes it easy to cut slices to be shared around.