HotM #8 - Kruidkoek (Dutch spice cake)

This may look like a bread but it's actually a Dutch cake called 'kruidkoek'. It doesn't contain fat nor eggs so excellent for Joanna's HotM challenge of baking. This particular cake gets its moisture from yoghurt, but you could use milk or buttermilk instead. The yoghurt makes it a little bit tangy. The taste comes from mixed spice (or apple pie spices). I made a very basic one but you can pimp it with raisins, nuts, candied ginger, candied orange, etc or if you really want to indulce: with chunks of dark chocolate! Before I made this one I experimented with adding cocoa powder but it wasn't as good as I would have hoped. I think you need fat to really bring out the chocolate taste. It was good though but I like this one better.
The taste has to develop so it's better to wait a day before eating it (writing this I'm eating my 3rd slice and it's not even half a day old). I never have the patience to wait a whole day but it is more delicious the next day.
To prevent having to chew on a chewy crust, the hot cake is put in a plastic bag. That way it will not be crusty.



Kruidkoek (Dutch spice cake)

makes 1 loaf

250 g (9 oz) self raising flour
200 g (7 oz) dark moscovado sugar
2 ts mixed spice
275 ml (9 ¼ fl oz) yoghurt
50 ml (1 ¾ fl oz)) honey

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a loaf cake tin.
Mix the flour, sugar and mixed spice. If the sugar is lumpy, whizz it in the foodprocessor for a few seconds.
Mix the yoghurt and honey. Add the yoghurt honey mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Transfer to the loaf cake tin and bake for 1 ¼ hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Take the cake out of the tin and put it in a plastic bag. Close the bag and allow it to cool completely. Best served the next day.