Rosemary Loaf cake
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250 g soft unsalted butter
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200 g golden caster sugar (I used regular caster sugar)
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3 large eggs
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210 g self raising flour
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90g plain flour
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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needles from a 10cm stalk of rosemary chopped small, but not too fine (about 2 teaspoons)
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4 tablespoons milk
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1-2 tablespoons rosemary sugar or caster sugar
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23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and lined
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 170 C/gas mark 3
Step 2 - Now cream the butter, adding the sugar when it's really soft, and creaming both together till pale and smooth and light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a spoonful of the flour after each addition, then add the vanilla. Fold in the rest of the flour - I find a rubber spatula the best tool for the job - and finally add the rosemary.
Step 3 - Thin the batter with the milk - you're after a soft, dropping consistency - and pour, with some helpful prodding and scraping with your spatula, into the waiting tin. Sprinkle the top with a little sugar before putting it in the oven, and cook for 1 hour, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
Step 4 - Leave to cool on a wire rack in its tin, and when completely cold, unmould and wrap well in foil till you need to eat it. Like all these sorts of cakes, it keeps well.
From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson