Ingredients
- 400 g sweet and tangy dried fruit mix
- 100 g pitted dates finely chopped
- 100 g dried mango finely chopped
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 100 ml spiced rum
- 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste
- 175 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 175 g dark brown muscovado sugar
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- 175 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp. desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp. mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 50 g stem ginger in syrup, chopped (reserve the syrup to use in desserts)
Directions
- Put the dried fruit, dates, mango, orange zest and juice, rum and vanilla into a large non-metallic bowl or a food bag. Mix, then cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for at least 24hr, or for up to 2 days.
- When ready to bake the cake, heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2. Grease and line a 20.5cm (8in) deep round cake tin with baking parchment.
- Put butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a handheld electric whisk until light and creamy. Gradually whisk in eggs, adding a little flour if the mix begins to split. Fold in the remaining flour, coconut and spices, followed by the stem ginger.
- Tip in the soaked fruit, stir well, spoon mixture into the tin and level the surface. Bake for 1hr 45min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then remove (keeping it in its parchment paper) and wrap in a double thickness of foil. Store in a cool, dark place to mature for up to 3 months.
- Feed the cake every 3-4 weeks with 2tbsp spiced rum – to do this, use a skewer to make small holes in the top and bottom of the cake, using 1tbsp for each side. Re-wrap carefully after each addition. Do this up until 1 week before decorating your cake to ensure it has sufficient time to dry out.
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