Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

Collecting old tins is one of my hobbies. Recently, I uncovered some old Huntly and Palmers biscuit tins at the local op shop. Usually, I open them up to inspect the inside. However, as some other item attracted all my attention, I purchased the tins among other junk and took them home without looking inside.

Most of the tins had nothing inside except rusty corners. The large biscuit tin contained the smell of baked cake, complete with butter-stained greaseproof paper and a solitary sultana among dried crumbs.

Memories of Aunt Betty and her always-offered home-made sultana cake were instantly recalled. Yes, I really did have an Aunt Betty.

Times have changed these days – hardly anyone I know does regular home baking or has a recipe book like Aunt Betty, crammed full of scraps of paper and cuttings from magazines full of her favourite recipes.

So why not have a tin of fresh baking to have with your afternoon cup of tea? It's not really that difficult. Imagine the surprise any visitor would have – and you'd have something to take for morning tea at work the next day.

On tracking down the fabled secret recipe for Aunt Betty's sultana cake, I discovered it is actually very easy and similar to other recipes I'd found.

As all my recipes are test-baked, I decided to bake at home to impart the genuine home-cooked flavour Aunt Betty would have been proud of.

Aunt Betty's Sultana loaf

Ingredients

450g sultanas
225g butter
225g sugar
3 eggs
350g flour
1 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 lemon

Method

Cover the sultanas with water and bring to the boil for about 15 minutes. Drain and add butter. Whisk the eggs and add in with lemon zest. Add flour and baking powder, which can be sifted together first.

Grease a loaf tin or 20cm cake tin with butter and sprinkle with flour. Fill the tin with the mix – just over half way up is about right.

Bake in a preheated oven in the middle tray for about one hour and 15 minutes on 160 degrees Celsius. Test with a skewer.

This traditional cake or loaf keeps well for a few days in an old tin and is lovely with a cup of tea.