Rich Fruit cake
This cake comes as a festive treat in the winter months, especially handy if you didn't soak any dry fruits till Christmas arrived and suddenly the cake-craving hits you.
This cake is the perfect saviour to quench those craving and impress your guests alike.
During the festive season, you can easily bake 2 or 3 cakes in a batch, skip the frosting and wrap in a nice decorative wrapping paper as a simple but thoughtful gift.
Ingredients:
150 gm butter
205 gm flour
160 gm sugar - powdered
3 eggs
1 tablespoon cocoa
0.5 teaspoon baking powder
0.25 teaspoon baking soda
Spices -
0.25 teaspoon salt
0.25 teaspoon cinnamon powder
0.25 teaspoon nutmeg powder
0.25 teaspoon mixed spice
Flavours -
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
0.75 tablespoon mixed fruit or apricot jam
Juice of 1 small orange
Dried fruit -
70 gm golden raisins
50 gm cashews
50 gm almonds and pistachios
100 gm tutti-fruity or candied cherries, chopped
Method:
Chop all the dried fruits and soak in orange juice for a minimum of 1 hours - upto 8 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Butter and line a 8 inch cake pan
In a bowl, mix dry ingredients together - flour, spices, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda
Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
Now, add the dry mix to the butter mix alternating with eggs. When all eggs are incorporated, toss in the soaked dried fruits, all flavouring ingredients - vanilla, lemon zest and juice and jam
Mix using a spatula, ensure that no lumps of dried fruit remain in the batter
Finish off with any left over flour mix and give a final mix
Pour into the tin and bake for 35-45 minutes depending on oven temperature
I had coated this cake with a simple fondant icing, this is completely optional but looks perfect for a gift. For use at home, we preferred the un-iced version