Ingredients / Shopping List
300g margarine or butter100g Soft brown sugar200g light brown sugar5 eggs200g raisins200g sultanas200g currants300g S.R. Flour1 tsp vanilla paste1 tbsp Seville orange marmalade1 tbsp treacle50g blanched almonds
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
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.
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.