Saffron Cake Recipe - Cornish Recipes

How to make saffron cake:

This is also a well known delicacy in Cornwall. Saffron is usually sold in drachms (one eighth of an ounce) and 1/2 drachms (one sixteenth of an ounce) and is very expensive, hence the old Cornish saying "as dear as saffron". It is believed that the Phoenicians brought saffron over with them when they came to trade for tin. As far as I know Cornwall is one of the only places where saffron is used in this way.

Ingredients

1lb plain flour
6oz butter, margarine or lard
6oz sugar
6oz currants, sultanas
1 1/2 oz of mixed, diced, candied peel (lemon or orange)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1oz yeast or 1 sachet of dried yeast
1 drachm saffron
warm milk and water to mix
(see measure conversions for more information)

Method

Overnight put saffron to infuse by snipping the strands and cover with half a cup of boiling water and a small pinch of salt. Cover with a saucer. Put yeast into cup with a teaspoon of sugar and add half a cup of warm milk and water - not too hot but more than tepid so as not to kill the yeast. Rub fat into the flour then add sugar and mix together. When the yeast has risen in the cup, make a pit in the centre of the flour and sugar mix and pour in the yeast, covering with a sprinkle of flour (this keeps the temperature constant). When this cracks and the yeast sponges through, warm the previously steeped saffron mixture a little and add together with fruit and peel and start combining all the ingredients together adding extra liquid as you go until the whole thing makes a soft dough without being too sticky. Cover this with a clean tea-towel and leave in a warm (not too hot) place to rise. This takes between 30-45 minutes. Put into greased loaf tins, cover and leave to rise again until the mixture is level with the top of the tin. Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees centigrade) for 3/4 - 1 hour. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

I hope you will enjoy making this old Cornish favourite.
Until next time,

Gans oll an colon vy,

If you have a question or comment relevant to this page, then please post it below.

Comment Script

Can you please tell me why you never use a egg in a saffron cake.I have been making them for years,but have never found out the reason why eggs are not used.

#12 - Rachel - 06/07/2011 - 13:23

I am glad to see that Connie's recipe suggests a decent quantity of saffron. So many recipes suggest quantities such as "a pinch of saffron" "half a teaspoon" which can only result in a dough of very pale colour and bland taste. Proper Cornish saffron is bright yellow and needs to be made with genuine Spanish Valencia saffron, which is not easy to find as there are many inferior versions from other countries more readily available.
One drachm equates to roughly three and a half grams but I find that in a mixture using a pound of flour, one gram using Spanish saffron gives a decent flavour without breaking the bank. The saffron supplied in the Schwartz range of spices seems to be the real thing, though hideously expensive at over two UK pounds for just 0.4gram.

#11 - Stephen John - 02/10/2011 - 03:55

I have for the first time made saffron buns, can anyone tell me how they are crispy on the top? my husband likes them like this but was wondering why. Even though they taste good. Thankyou

#10 - Pam - 01/23/2011 - 08:59

i believe its one of the oldest humble meals for the tin miners of the 18th cetury

#9 - have you a recipe of Star gazey pie - 12/18/2010 - 18:24

i am of Cornish desent, but have lived in England most of my life. i am also diabetic.
i would like to know, i i could use your recipe, but substituting a sugar free granulated sweetener for the sugar.
and if so would it freeze well
yours faithfully
Marc

#8 - marc - 08/19/2010 - 08:30

Can I use this mixture to make saffron buns? do I do exactly as it says in the recipe, but instead of putting into a greased loaf tin can I make small round balls and put on a baking tray? This is my very first attempt at Saffron buns so I want it to be right.

#7 - Hazel - 08/10/2010 - 03:00

Can I make this recipe in a bread machine please?

#6 - Joan Langford - 04/09/2010 - 15:06

Lady, thank you. My paternal grandmother used to send them for Christmas every year - will try them & see if they are the same.

#5 - Amy Boland - 12/04/2009 - 15:36

Looking for saffron buns recipe. When I was in Penzance they were amazing. I haven't had for years.

#4 - Robin - 09/19/2009 - 13:07

would this be suitable to make in a breadmaker thank you

#3 - verahill04@btinternet.com - 08/28/2009 - 15:09

THANKYOU FOR THE RECIPE,MY MUM USED TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL SAFFRON CAKES AND UNFORTUNATELY TOOK HER RECIPE WITH HER TO THE GRAVE AND I COULDNT REMEMBER HOW SHE USE TO MAKE IT,NOW I CAN MAKE IT FOR MY DAD AS MOTHER ALWAYS DID.......THANK YOU

#2 - SUSAN WILLIAMS - 10/16/2008 - 17:29

I try the saffron cake recipe it was the best saffron cake i have ever tasted

#1 - clare - 04/06/2008 - 07:37

I'd love to try the saffron cake recipe - but what size loaf tins, and how many does this recipe make?

#0 - m - 01/23/2008 - 13:21


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