Bought At: Pre-ordered from Amazon, however I have since bought two copies as gifts directly from Tilly.
Recipes Made: So many!
I made A Plain Cake with Passionfruit Buttercream (p.16) knowing I had all the ingredients, even some passionfruit pulp in the freezer. It was a lovely plain cake, unfortunately especially so as my passionfruit were decidedly un-passionfruit-y! It was the least passionfruit-y passionfruit I’ve ever eaten, and I was quite disappointed to experience that when making this cake! I can certainly imagine however, how much better this cake would usually be with probably any other passionfruit than the ones I used!
A Plain Cake with Passionfruit Buttercream
I made the Weekday Lemon Cake (p.19) when I had some in season bergamots and can confirm it was delicious, as I’m sure it would be with lemon (or any other citrus). Another lovely simple yet very flavoursome and satisfying cake from this book.
Weekday Lemon Cake (with Bergamot)
Strawberry Streusel Cake (p.20) was the first recipe I made from The Plain Cake Appreciation Society, as it was a recipe featured in a Graziher magazine newsletter back in 2021. I liked it then as was happy to see it was in Tilly’s book. I have made it since with plums, then with donut peaches and raspberries. All versions were delicious, and it’s a great cake to make if you have run out of milk or have issues with lactose as this cake uses no milk, cream, sour cream or yoghurt. It is a great recipe to make if you want to use up some in season fruit, and the streusel topping adds a little something too.
I requested Pistachio and Rose Bundt Cake (p.30) for my birthday last year, and while we don’t have a Bundt tin as nice as the one Tilly used in her book, it was a delicious cake. Pistachio and rose are just about my two favourite flavours so I was definitely always going to love this cake. The only thing I would personally change if I made it again was to ice the cake once the cake had cooled, as the icing soaks into the cake after that and isn’t as spectacular the next day or so. Not a problem if you know the cake will be eaten on the first day however, but in our house these things do last a good few days.
The Raspberry Studded Tea Bars (p.36) are definitely our most made recipe from Tilly’s book. Between my Mum and I we’ve probably made these at least 10 times since September 2023. They are a simple cake, but are very tasty and very dietary requirement friendly as well - they are gluten free, lactose free and relatively low fodmap (depending on your almond and berry tolerance). We often have a batch of these in the freezer as they freeze well, and make the nicest snack when we don’t have time to bake. The first time my Mum made these she did include the ground up tea in them, however we’ve never added it since as we like them just as much without (and it makes them even easier to make). As you can see in the photo we bake them in a friand tin as we don’t have any bar tins suitable, and haven’t been able to find anything yet either. You still get 12 little cakes out of the mixture and they bake for the same amount of time as well.
I was lucky to make the Quince and Blackberry Crumble Cake using the recipe for Baked Quince (p.108) before quince were all out of season not too long after Tilly’s book was released last year. I love quince and knew this cake would be worth making. I made half the recipe of the baked quince (which is enough to make one cake, I did swap the orange for bergamot in the recipe as I can’t eat orange), and made the cake and it was just so so good. The brown butter crumble on top of this cake is a real standout, you can really taste the browned butter and it really elevates the cake flavour wise. I made this cake again with blueberries and raspberries once quince season was over, which I can also highly recommend. Similar to the Strawberry Streusel Cake (p.20), this cake can be made with many different fruits and served as a dessert or just a nice cake with tea.
I had some apples to use up later last year, so I made the Apple and Cinnamon Cake (p.113). From memory I didn’t have any Greek-style yoghurt as the recipe asked for, and used milk instead and it still worked really well. I didn’t lay out the sliced apples on top of the cake nearly as nicely and neatly as Tilly has, I ran out of patience when doing it 🤣. My cake may not look as good, but I can guarantee it was very delicious and very nice with a cup of tea.
Apple and Cinnamon Cake
Being a pistachio lover I had to make the Pistachio Cake with Rhubarb Buttercream (p.114). I also had some fresh rhubarb, however no cream cheese to make the Rhubarb Buttercream so I omitted the icing and put a few pieces of rhubarb on the top of the cake before I baked it. The cake is quite light so the rhubarb drifted all the way to the bottom of the cake, but it was no less enjoyable for it. This pistachio cake is quite different to the Pistachio and Rose Bundt Cake (p.30) texture wise, and I can see why a buttercream was Tilly’s choice for this one. I do really need to make this again properly, however if you have a craving for pistachio cake and don’t have all the buttercream ingredients, I would still recommend making this cake on its own.
Similar to the Strawberry Streusel Cake (P.20), the Matcha Tea Cake (p.117) was also featured in a newsletter from Graziher magazine a couple of years before The Plain Cake Appreciation Society was published, so I made it back then. I actually made it with freeze dried raspberry powder, a suggestion given by Tilly for those of use who don’t like matcha. It was a fun marble style cake, however I don’t recall the flavour being enough for me. I dare say matcha would be a much better substitute flavour wise if you like it.
Favourite Things About the Book: Everything! I honestly do love everything about this cookbook. From the photography and styling, to the design and colour palette used throughout, Tilly’s writing and the way the book is divided into sections/chapters, to the recipes themselves and the delightful use of flavour in each. The Plain Cake Appreciation Society is my favourite book of all 2023 releases, and remains so into 2024. I don’t think I’ve made so many things from one book in a long time (maybe ever?). When I open this cookbook I not only want to make almost every recipe, but I also just want to look at it all. Tilly’s photography is so captivating, it makes me wish I was as good at it as she is. The Plain Cake Appreciation Society has a really clear and cohesive vision behind it, everything just works and transports the reader or baker to a quiet moment filled with tea, cake and flowers. The cakes in the book are really anything but plain. The recipes are generally unfussy, and maybe I am taking plain to mean ‘boring/bland/tasteless’, when Tilly clearly means something more like everyday and comforting, but the flavours used in these recipes are not only exactly the things I want to eat, but in my mind are far from plain in the best possible way.
Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Berry Cloud Cake (p.55), Vanilla Cake with Baked Rhubarb (p.78), Burnt Butter and Blackberry Sheet Cake (p.94), Pistachio and Plum Cake (p.99), Malted Banana Cake (p.128), Ginger and Rose Madeleines (p.150), Date and Ginger Bundt Cake (p.156). and Citrus Madeleines (p.182).
