Exmoor walks... and cake

Porlock Marsh

There is so much great walking on Exmoor that one is spoilt for choice, and we have an ever-growing list of walks that we want to do. Over the last few months we’ve managed to tick a few off that list.

Bossington Beach and Porlock Marsh (approx 2 miles)
A short circular walk from Bossington down to the beach and along behind the shingle ridge, turning inland to

Walking towards Bossington Hill

return to Bossington. We finished by having lunch (including cake) at Kitnors in the village. The walk we did takes you through some fascinating saltmarsh scenery, but is not recommended at high tide or after heavy rain. For a longer route you could take in, for example, Bossington Hill, Selworthy Beacon, Porlock Weir…

The church at Culbone

Culbone Church (approx 5 miles)
Quite a bit of uphill and downhill on this walk, but definitely worth it for the views. Culbone Church is a little gem and I also found the churchyard very interesting. We walked

View from above Worthy Combe

up to Culbone through Yearnor Wood from Porlock Weir, then from the church via Withy Combe to the trail that passes Parsonage Farm and Ash Farm (wonderful coastal views). Then, via Worthy Combe back to Porlock Weir, and a visit to the Harbour Gallery & Café - one of several very nice places to eat - for coffee and cake.

On the way to Watersmeet

Watersmeet (approx 4 miles)
We actually did this one for the first time last Autumn, but revisited it a few weeks ago when some of the family came to stay. There are several variations on the walk, but as we were combining it with a trip to Lynton and Lynmouth to visit the craft shops – and of course ride the cliff railway – we walked the shortest version: straight along the river to Watersmeet and back, crossing the river from time to time. Naturally we had to try some of the cakes and scones at Watersmeet House before setting off back towards Lynmouth.

Do you detect a cake theme emerging here? No photos of any of the cakes, sorry - they all got eaten too fast for that.

Gluten free and dairy free lemon cake recipe

The other day Chef Frank was out and we had guests checking in who don’t eat wheat or dairy (you might already know that at Exmoor House we specialise in catering for special dietary requirements). So I adapted a recipe from the back of a packet of Dove’s Farm gluten & wheat-free white self-raising flour blend, in order to offer our guests something to eat with a cup of tea when they arrived. As an aside: interestingly, many ‘free from’ recipes are either wheat free / gluten free or dairy free, but not both.

Here’s what I did.

Ingredients:
125g gluten/wheat-free self raising flour
100g dairy-free margarine (we like the PURE sunflower one)
125g caster sugar (granulated also works fine)
2 eggs
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp poppy seeds
for the topping: juice of half a lemon; icing sugar

Method:
Put all the ingredients (except those for the topping) into a large bowl and beat or whisk really well. Pour into an oiled/greased and lined 500g loaf tin.
Bake at 170-190°C (according to your oven) for 45 minutes, or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin, on a cooling rack.
Now for the topping. Add some icing sugar, bit by bit, to the juice of half a lemon, mixing all the time, until you get a light syrupy consistency and it tastes sweetish but still nice and lemony. Make lots of little holes in the top of the cake with a cocktail stick and pour the syrup over it; leave the cake to cool completely before turning it out of the tin.

Of course, for quality control purposes I had to try a piece, and then had to resist the temptation to scoff the lot…

Read more about the food at Exmoor House