Whey cake
I have been making a fair amount of my own soft cheese lately, experimenting with recipes before I run a course on Home Dairying at Acton Scott next year. The benefit of all this cheese making is the whey that you are left with. I have been using it to make bread, replacing the water with the whey, and it makes a lovely tender crumb. I use it to make scones, you get the bonus of having the soft cheese to spread on top. This is especially lovely if you jazz the soft cheese up by adding a bit of soft brown sugar and some chopped nuts. You can use it to make pancakes, the Scotch or American kind, too, or add it to your waffle mixture. Whey is a versatile ingredient, so should you fancy a bit of soft cheese making at home, please don’t throw away the whey (now, there’s a sentence).
There are two types of whey; a sweet whey resulting from the use of rennet in cheese making, and an acidic whey resulting from the use of lemon juice in the making of soft cheese. In this instance I have used an acidic whey, but either can be made use of here.
This cake was inspired by this one at King Arthur Flour but I have made some changes to make it my own. I have reduced the quantities to make it a more manageable loaf cake rather than a large tray bake. I have reduced the sugar in the cake batter too, as it seemed like a lot of sugar. This hardly makes it healthy though as there is still plenty of sugar in the cake and topping. I have substituted walnuts for pecans and added cinnamon instead of vanilla. It is delicious warm, just add a bit of cream or sweetened soft cheese and you have a lovely pudding.
50g soft butter
150g light brown sugar
1 egg
150g liquid whey (mine was acidic from the addition of lemon juice in the cheese making process)
175g plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
For the topping
40g melted butter
100g light brown sugar
25g milk
pinch salt
50g walnuts (or the nuts of your choice)
Method
Line a 2lb loaf tin and preheat the oven to 180°c, gas mark 4 or use the middle shelf of the baking oven of the four oven Aga.
To make the cake beat the butter and the sugar together well. It won’t become soft and fluffy because there is a lot more sugar than butter, but it should be well mixed. Add the egg and continue to beat. Add the whey. It will curdle, especially if you have used an acidic whey. Don’t worry about it. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and beat well, until all is combined and you have a soft batter. Pour into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for about 25 -30 minutes until just lightly browned and starting to firm up. In the meantime make the topping as this is spread on top for the last five minutes of cooking time. Combine all the ingredients for the topping. When the cake is nearly cooked bring it out of the oven and pour the topping over the top. Place back in the oven and cook for another 5 minutes. The topping will be bubbling and you should be able to insert a skewer into the cake and it will come out clean (except for a bit of the topping that will inevitably stick to the skewer). Leave to cool in the tin. Enjoy a slice warm or eat cold, depending on your fancy.