Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

• 225g plain flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2tsp of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice (optional garam masala powder)
• 200g  butter
• 200g dark brown sugar (optional red jaggery)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 300g mixed dried fruit & chopped mixed peel
• 50g glazed cherries, halved & blanched almonds, chopped
• 100 ml of orange juice

Method:

Dip the dried fruit, mixed peel, glazed cherries and almonds in luke warm orange juice & keep it covered in warm place for 24 hrs.

Next day you can see that almost whole juice is absorbed by the dry fruits. Heat the oven to 180 C. Grease a cake tin/container and line the bottom and sides with baking paper or give a coat of flour on greased tin.

Sift the flour, salt, mixed spice & baking powder into a bowl.

Cream the butter and the brown sugar/jaggery in a large mixing bowl and then mix vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

Mix the eggs one at a time into the mixture. Fold in the flour mixture until well mixed and then mix the dried fruit, mixed peel, cherries and almonds.

Turn the mixture into the prepared tin or container and decorate top with few nuts or cherries.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour in 180C and then test with a skewer. If the skewer doesn't come out clean, bake for up to another 10 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.

Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.