Light and Crumbly Fruit Cake

Prep Time: 0:15
Cook Time: 1:30
Makes: 1

Ingredients / Shopping List

250g margarine or butter

150g soft brown sugar

100g caster sugar

4 eggs

250g S.R. Flour

250g soft dried apricots

300g golden sultanas

200g drained crushed pineapple

100g ground almonds

100g mixed peel (optional)

100g walnut pieces

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 medium carrot

Prep to Cook:  Oven 170ºC or Gas Mark 3

Line a 20cm square cake tin with double layer of parchment paper

Hand held mixer, teaspoon, spatula, chopping board, vegetable knife, sieve

 

Prep:

Place margarine or butter with the caster and light brown sugar and cream together

Crack the eggs into a bowl and break them up to combine yolk and white

Gradually beat into the cake mixture

Stir in the sieved flour and ground cinnamon and add drained pineapple

Snip the dried apricots with scissors to make diced fruit portions and add to cake mix

Stir in sultanas, ground almonds and walnuts

Check the mixture is soft and creamy and add finely grated carrot.

Tip into prepared cake tin and level the top

Cook gently at 170ºC or Gas 3 for about one and a half hours

Check it is risen and golden and firm in the centre

Remove and cool in the cooking tin

 

Check it out!

Light and crumbly fruit cake is full of good things and is easy to make.  It is perfect for packed lunches and home-time snacks.  Make on Sunday eat all week.  Using dried apricots. pineapple and grated carrot provides a healthy aspect to this cake making it perfect for growing children.   The orange coloured fruit and vegetables in this recipe supply a type of Vitamin A called carotene.

Recipe Science

Cooks Know How:

Once you master the ‘creaming method’ you can experiment all you like with different additions to vary flavours and textures.  The creaming method is selected when the proportion of sugar and fat in a cake is equal.  Usually the weight of eggs and the flour amount are also in similar in proportion.  Once the eggs have been beaten in, to trap air and make the cake light, the remaining ingredients are simply mixed in using a big spoon and figure of eight action.  This stirring simply integrates the additions that are chosen to add flavours and textures. 

Using soft dried apricots gives a lovely orangey colour and fruity flavour.  The carrot enhances the colour and moistens the cake giving it a longer shelf life as does the mixed peel and ground almonds.  Golden sultanas and pineapple enrich the fruitiness.  The walnuts add texture, flavour and bulk.  This cake needs to be cooked gently until it forms a golden flat-topped cake that cuts into gorgeous squares.

Cake supplies dietary energy and calories from the fat and sugars used but it also supplies vitamins and minerals from the nuts and dried fruits.