This year, I made my husband a rich fruit cake(his favourite!) for his birthday and it turned out REALLY nice and tasty. Despite the long(ish) list of ingredients, there’s nothing elaborate about it. Try a slice with a cup of Red Bush/Roibosh tea (mixed with a chamomile tea bag in the same cup). There’s absolutely no compromise in taste here! This is a real treat if you like fruit cake with tea and also an excellent choice for a rich Christmas cake! (not that I want to start talking about Christmas in September… but it might come handy – so I’ll leave it here for when you need it!)
Ingredients
330g of whole almonds (milled)
3 (heaped) tbsp coconut oil Rind and juice of a lemon
1 tbsp fresh ginger (grated)
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
75g dried cherries
30g apricots (chopped into small pieces)
30g sultanas
30g raisins
30g dates (chopped into small pieces)
30g walnuts (crumbled into small pieces)
4 tbsp of liqueur (I used almond liqueur)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
2 tsp black strap molasses
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites (separated and whipped into stiff peaks)
2 tsp of baking powder (gluten free)
Pre-heat the oven to 150 C degrees. Then start by separating the egg whites and whipping them. Put them to one side. In a separate bowl, add all the other ingredients apart from the almond meal, baking powder and egg whites. Once thoroughly mixed, add the almond meal and the baking powder. It will be a rather stiff mixture until you finally add the egg whites at the end. For last, gently fold in the egg whites until thoroughly mixed (but keep it gentle).
Place into a well greased cake tin (preferably one of those with a removable bottom) – Parchment paper at the bottom might help ensure you have no problems to remove the cake ( I didn’t use any and my cake came out in one piece quite nicely but, to be on the safe side, I’d suggest you add the paper too – which you should also grease well – use coconut oil or butter).
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 50 minutes (check it after 40 minutes by stabbing a knife right through the middle – the knife should come out dry when the cake is cooked). If needed, add a few more minutes depending on how deep your cake tin is.
Bom apetite!