My novel Burning Embers is set in Kenya, and during my research for the book I sampled a range of Kenyan recipes to get a feel for what my characters would eat. Here’s a recipe for a sponge cake, traditional to Kenya, that became a firm favourite, because it’s deliciously light and so easy to make. It’s called Mkate wa Mayai, which sounds wonderfully exotic but actually means quite simply ‘bread made from eggs’.

Ingredients

4 eggs
50 g caster sugar
5.5 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cardamom powder (or cinnamon, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.

1. Grease and line an eight-inch cake tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder.
3. Beat the eggs.
4. Add the sugar and cardamom and beat until fluffy (volume doubles).
5. Add the flour gradually and fold in carefully.
6. Spoon the mixture into the tin.
7. Bake for around 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C until a cocktail stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool and then turn out.

Tip: The more you sift the flour, the lighter the cake will be. Do it over  and over, and sift again when you add the flour to the mixture. And be very gentle folding it in!

Variation: I like to add raisins as well – a quarter of a cup sprinkled on top.