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
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.
