Apricot & Prune Fruit Cake

I have been going through my recipe cuttings and came across this one, which I have been meaning to make for ages as I wanted to try a fruit cake made with either dried apricots or prunes and this has both!

This could easily be described as a keks in Polish.

It is a delicious and moist cake, which can be eaten straight away – so could be a very late bake for Christmas!

The recipe was for a very large round cake but I thought a square would be better for cutting up and so I scaled down the ingredients and made it in a 24 centimetre square tin.

You have to start this cake the night before.

Ingredients

• 120g dried apricots
• 165g stoned prunes
• 100ml hot Earl Grey tea
• 100ml sherry
• *
• 115g currants
• 115g sultanas
• 115g raisins
• 50g mixed peel
• *
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 150g butter
• 2 eggs
• *
• 185g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of mixed spice

Method

• Chop the apricots and prunes into small pieces.
• Place them into a bowl and pour the hot tea over them.
• Leave until this is cold.
• Add the sherry, cover and leave overnight.
• *
• Add the other dried fruits to the soaked fruits and mix well.
• *
• Grease and line all sides of a 24 cm square tin
• Pre-heat the oven to GM 1- 140°C
• Mix the flour with the mixed spices.
• Cream the sugar and butter till well blended.
• Add the eggs and mix well together.
• Fold in the flour mixture.
• Add the dried fruits and mix well together.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth down the top.
• Bake for 2 – 2¼ hours.
• Leave to cool in the tin.

Tea set by Spencer Stevenson from the mid 20th Century

Note

Yesterday I baked this for the second time in a 21 centimetre square tin – this needed 3 – 3 ¼ hours.