From the Book to the Plate - Bilbo's Tea Cake

The second recipe we decided to try was one inspired by The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was also another first for me, as I have neither baked nor tasted a cake like this before.

I made the mistake of not letting Alishia know that we would need a mixer to cream the sugar, butter, and zest together, so we got to enjoy attempting that part of the recipe by hand. It was not perfect, but it still worked out. The batter was a gorgeous pastel yellow and it almost felt like a sin to bake it.
The directions we used said to leave the tea cake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, but even after almost 50, the center of our cake was still a little undercooked. So if you decide to give this recipe a try, keep an eye on that. The directions also stated that you should let the cake cool for a full twenty-four hours...we did not last that long.

It both tasted and looked amazing. The lemon is strong, but the cranberries and butter help even it out so that it is not too overwhelming. Of course, since I am obsessed with dried cranberries, I would have preferred to have more, but they were spread out pretty evenly throughout the entire thing.

Where we got the recipe: lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net
J. R. R. Tolkien's books: Amazon, Goodreads