Dundee Fruit Cakes

Prep Time: 0:25
Cook Time: 1:15
Serves: 16

Ingredients / Shopping List

300g margarine or butter

100g Soft brown sugar

200g light brown sugar

5 eggs

200g raisins

200g sultanas

200g currants

300g S.R. Flour

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 tbsp Seville orange marmalade

1 tbsp treacle

50g blanched almonds

Prep to Cook:

Cake tins, parchment paper, mixing bowl, hand held mixer, spatula, tablespoon, bowl, fork.

 

Prep:   Line the cake tins with a double layer of parchment paper.

Place the brown sugars and the margarine or butter in the mixing bowl

Cream these ingredients together using the mixer until the mixture looks fluffy

Crack the eggs into a bowl and lightly mix

Gradually add the egg to the mixing bowl beating between each addition

Now stir in the flour and the dried fruits, sultanas, raisins and currants

Stir in marmalade and treacle

Pile into the lined cake tins

Decorate with blanched almonds all over the top

Cook gently 170ºC or Gas 3 for 1 hour 30 minutes 

 

Check it out!

Dundee cake is a rich and robust cake topped with nutritious almonds that provide zinc in the diet. Whilst you are making one, make two!! Use a casserole dish to cook the second cake in if you have only got one cake tin.

Recipe Science

Cooks Know How:  Rich cakes are named because they contain proportionately high amounts of sugar and fat.  They are produced by creaming the fat and sugar together, thus the creaming method is named as the process of manufacture. The amount of fat and sugar ensures the cake keeps well and is moist and flavoursome. Extra nutrients iron and proteins are added by the addition of eggs and the dried fruits.   Cooking gently means that the sugars in the mixtures caramelise and the eggs and flour set the cake. A dark cake crumb is developed helped by the addition of treacle.  The flour provides the structure, from the gluten it contains, holding the cake shape and forming the crust.  The smell produced during the cooking of a fruit cake is divine.  The blanched split almonds form the traditional decorative top to the cake that ensures no further work is required after cooking, simply cool and cut.