You can wrap up this tasty fruit cake and store it for 10 days, but you'll probably want to eat it all at once!
Ingredients
- Handful of dried dates, chopped
- 350g (12oz) mixed dried fruit
- 100g (4oz) demerara sugar
- 100g (4oz) butter or margarine
- 1 egg
- 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
- 50g (2oz) unwashed glacé cherries
- 1/2tsp mixed spice
WEIGHT CONVERTER
Method
- Put the dates and mixed fruit in a large pan with the sugar, butter and 150ml (1/4 pint) water. Put the pan on a gentle heat and slowly melt the butter and sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 20 mins.
- Set the fruit to one side to cool completely (about 1 to 2 hours, or overnight if you like).
- Line the base and sides of an 18cm (7in) square cake tin (loose-bottomed, if you've got one) with baking paper.
- Break the egg into the fruit pan and stir. Fold in the flour, cherries and mixed spice.
- Pour the mixture into the cake tin, sprinkle with extra sugar and bake at 150°C, 300°F or gas 2, for 1 hour, 15 mins.
- When the cake is ready, let it cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Top Tip for making Olga Walker's light fruit cake
If you wrap this cake in brown paper and foil and store it in a cake tin, it will last for a week to 10 days.
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