Tag: Dried Fruits

Semi-Steamed Fruit Cake

  • I came across this recipe the other day in a Christmas magazine.
  • It is different in many ways from other fruit cakes (keks) that I have made in several ways.
  • The dried fruits included apricots and dates.
  • All the dried fruits were left overnight in apple juice.
  • Butter and Sunflower oil were used.
  • When baking the tin was covered for some off the time – which resulted in the cake being more steamed than baked.
  • Then the lid or foil was removed and the cake was baked for the rest of the time.
  • *
  • I adjusted a few of the ingredients so that this fruit cake – could be more easily made.
  • I halved the original quantities.
  • A large circular dish was originally used – I tried a 26x20cm tin.
  • Rectangular or square cakes are much easier to slice up than circular ones.
  • *
  • The result was a very lovely moist fruit cake, which I will be making often.

Note – you start this cake the evening before

INGREDIENTS

  • 150g raisins
  • 75g dried apricots – chopped
  • 40g mixed peel
  • 75g glacé cherries – chopped
  • 90g dates – chopped
  • 125ml apple juice
  • *
  • 55g butter – softened
  • 90g granulated sugar
  • 60ml sunflower oil
  • 1½ tablespoons of runny honey
  • *
  • pinch of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  •  *
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g plain flour
  • *
  • 45g chopped walnuts – optional

METHOD

  • The evening before baking put all the fruits into a saucepan and add the apple juice.
  • Mix well over a low heat until all the fruits are covered.
  • Cover the pan and leave this until the next day.
  • *
  • Pre-heat oven to GM3 – 160°C
  • Grease and line base and 2 sides of a 26×20 cm baking tin.
  • Cream the butter and sugar together.
  • Add the sunflower oil and mix well.
  • Add the salt and spices and mix well.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
  • Add the fruit mixture.
  • Add the walnuts and stir until everything is evenly mixed.
  • *
  • Pour the mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Cover the tin with aluminium foil.
  • Bake for 65 -75 minutes until the top is set.
  • Remove the foil and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
  • *
  • Leave to cool on a wire rack.
  • Cut into squares or rectangles to serve.

Royal Standard – Lynsdale tea plate

Option – not tested

  • Use a round pyrex dish with a lid for the first part of the baking.
  • Then remove the lid for the final part.

Half Size – Mama’s Never too Late Christmas Cake

  • Because of not being able to see many friends or family these last 3 years, I have not made an English style Christmas Cake for ages.
  • I have just been making one for my friend who is about to celebrate a significant birthday and loves fruit cake.
  • I found that the usual amount was quite a lot and I had forgotten how hard it was to mix it all up.
  • I thought that next time I would just make a half sized one.
  • Rather than halve the amounts ‘on the hoof’  I thought I would write this up with the half sized amount.
  • Decided it was better to do this now whilst things are fresh in my mind.
  • Of course I will not have the timings for baking but I can give estimates and check these later when I make this size of  cake.

  • It is a very moist cake and therefore it will only keep for about 2 months.

  • *
  • However if you want to add marzipan & icing then you should make it about 2- 3 weeks in advance, to give time for this to be done.

Ingredients

  • 450g mixture of currants, raisins & sultanas
  • 100g chopped mixed peel
  • 100g glacé cherries cut in half
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon & 1 orange
  • 1 medium cooking apple, peeled and coarse grated
  • 100g fine grated carrots
  • 1 tablespoon rum
  • 60 ml strong cold tea (I use a scented one like Earl Grey)
  • *
  • 175 g Butter
  • 175 g soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of black treacle
  • 3 large eggs – beaten
  • *
  • 200g plain flour – sieved
  • 1/4 level teaspoon salt
  • 3 level teaspoons mixed spice
  • ½ level teaspoon of cinnamon
  • ¼  grated nutmeg
  • ½ tablespoon cocoa  – yes cocoa! – sieved
  • 1 tablespoon ground almonds 

Method

  • Put all the fruit, rinds, carrots, rum & tea into large bowl,  mix and leave for 15 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 2 – 150oC.
  • Grease and line the cake tin – 20cm or 18cm square.
  • In another  large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar, beat in the treacle and eggs.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients together & fold them in using a large metal spoon.
  • Fold in the fruit mix using a large metal spoon
  • *
  • Put all the cake mixture into the tin to fill the shape and smooth the top.
  • 20 cm square – try 1hr 30mins
  • 18 cm square  -try 1hr 15 mins 
  • The above are guides as it does depend on your oven – you need to check earlier.
  • Leave to cool completely in the tin.
  • *
  • Wrap in several layers of foil to store.

Decorating the cake

  • It depends on who is coming and whether there are  lots of marzipan & icing lovers on how much I decorate the cake.
  • *
  • Sometimes I just dust the top with icing sugar.
  • See the full sized recipe for more details.
  • Cut down the amounts to suit the cake size.

Apple Mincemeat

  • This is a fresher tasting mincemeat than the classic English version.
  • It does not contain any fats.
  • Similar to Cranberry mincemeat – see previous post.
  • It will keep if kept in the fridge for up to a month.
  • Best to use this up quickly.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large Bramley apples – peeled, cored and chopped.
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 2 oranges zest & juice or 3 large satsumas
  • 150g currants
  • 150g raisins
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 125ml sherry

METHOD

  • Have prepared 3- 4 sterilised jar jars.
  • Put the apples, sugar, zest and juice into a saucepan and heat till the fruit starts to soften.
  • Add the dried fruit and spices and continue heating and stirring for around 5 minutes.
  • Add the sherry and continue heating and stirring for another 5-10 minutes until you have a thick liquid free mixture.
  • Leave to go cold and pot up into cold sterilised jars.
  • Keep in the fridge and use within a month.

Keks – Carrot Fruit &Nut

This is a variation on the courgette keks – light fruit cake –  I posted a couple of years ago.

Ingredients – Cake

  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
  • 150g of light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 100g of raisins
  • 100g of currants
  • 100g dried apricots chopped fine
  • 80g of roasted and roughly chopped hazelnuts or almonds
  • 1 large coarse grated carrot
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml of sunflower oil

Ingredients – Lemon Icing

  • Fine grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 150g of icing sugar

Method – Cake

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180°C
  • I used a continental style long loaf tin, greased it  and used a single sheet of grease proof paper  to line the long sides and the base.
  • Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugars and cinnamon, making sure that any lumps in the brown sugar are all pressed out.
  • Mix together the raisin, currants, nuts and the carrot.
  • Lightly whisk the eggs and oil together.
  • Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly together with a wooden spoon.
  • Add the carrot and fruit and nut mixture and mix well in.
  • Place the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 50 – 55 minutes – check after 40 minutes and cover the top with greaseproof or foil if browning too much before it is baked through.
  • Leave to cool before icing.

Method – Icing

  • Place the icing sugar in a bowl and add the grated lemon zest.
  • Mix in the lemon juice until you have a thick icing.
  • You might have to adjust the thickness with  more lemon juice (or water) or with icing sugar.
  • Put the icing on the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.
  • Tea Plate – Greenway by John Russell – 1960s

Note

  • Keep in an airtight container.
  • Keep in the container for at least a day before serving.

Plum Bread

This is an old English recipe which could easily be a keks recipe in Poland.

  • It can be called a tea bread as the dried fruits are soaked in tea.
  • Why is it called plum bread when there are no plums?
  • In England in the past, plum referred to all the different dried fruits.
  • The usage of the word plum to mean dried fruits has dropped out of usage.

Ingredients

  • 450g mix of currants, sultanas and raisins
  • 200ml of hot, strong Earl Grey tea
  • 170g soft brown sugar
  • 25g melted butter
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder

Method

  • Put the dried fruit and sugar into a bowl.
  • Pour the tea over them and stir.
  • Leave overnight.
  • *
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Line a large loaf tin or use a cake liner.
  • Mix the flour with the baking powder.
  • Mix the flour mixture into the dried fruit mixture.
  • Stir in the melted butter.
  • Spoon into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 60 minutes – check after 50 minutes and cover with greaseproof  paper if necessary to prevent burning.
  • Leave to cool in the tin on a wire cake rack.

Served on Queen Anne, bone china tea plates

Cinnamon Fruit Yeast Buns

These  bułeczki – little yeast buns – are based on an English recipe for hot cross buns, which are made for Good Friday.

I love the addition of a chopped eating apple and grated orange rind.

These take most of the day to make – best done on a day you are in with other things to do in between.

Ingredients

  • 330ml of milk (might need a little more)
  • 50g butter
  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 7g sachet of dried yeast
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 75g sultanas
  • 50g mixed peel
  • Grated rind of an orange
  • 1 eating apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
  • 1 + 1/2  teaspoons of cinnamon
  • *
  • For the glaze
  • 2 tablespoons of apricot jam

Method

  • Bring the milk to the boil.
  • Add the butter and leave till hand-warm.
  • Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl.
  • Make a well in the centre, add the milk and butter and then the egg.
  • Mix with a wooden spoon.
  • Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a sticky dough.
  • Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for around 5 minutes.
  • Put the dough into an oiled bowl
  • Cover with a shower cap (very useful these!) or cloth.
  • Leave to rise until doubled in size.
  • *
  • In a bowl mix together the sultanas, mixed peel, orange rind, apple and cinnamon.
  • Add this mixture to the risen dough and knead until it is all well distributed.
  • Cover again and leave to rise until doubled in size.
  • *
  • Cover a large baking tray with greaseproof.
  • Divide the dough into 15 even pieces.
  • Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured surface.
  • Arrange the balls on the baking tray with some room for expansion.
  • Cover loosely with a cloth and leave to prove – for around one hour.
  • *
  • Preheat the oven to GM7 – 220°C.
  • Bake for around 20 minutes until the buns are golden brown.
  • *
  • Gently heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan.
  • Brush the jam over the tops of the small buns.

Delicious on their own or buttered!

 

Soda Bread with Spelt

Having had success with soda bread recipes with rye flour,  I decided to try these out with the spelt flour I had bought recently.

Spelt –  Triticum spelta – is an older type of wheat known to have been used from around 5,000BC.

Modern wheat is Triticum sativum.

I use a yoghurt & whey mix, as I nearly always have these in when I make yoghurt cheese, but you can adapt by using a milk & water mix or buttermilk instead.

Ingredients

250g spelt flour

150g plain flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

200ml of yoghurt

150ml of whey

Spelt flour

Method

Pre-heat the oven to GM 6 – 200°C

Flour a baking tray.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl.

Mix the yoghurt and whey together in jug or bowl.

Add the yoghurt mixture to the dry ingredients, bit by bit, using a wooden spoon to mix it all together .

Use your floured hands to bring it all into a soft dough ball, trying to handle the dough as little as possible.

Place the ball onto the floured baking tray and flatten it slightly.

Using a sharp large knife cut a cross or star through most of the thickness

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes.

The base should sound hollow when the bread is cooked .

Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Fruit Version

To the flours add a 100g of dried fruits – raisons, sultanas, dried apricots etc.

 

I love the taste of the apricots!

Note

As with all soda breads, they do tend to become stale very quickly,  however they are delicious toasted.

Drożdżówka – Yeast Cake

  • The Polish word for yeast is drożdże and drożdżówka is any sweet cake or bun made using yeast.
  • Often the cake is a large flat cake ( placek) made in a large roasting tin.
  • This yeast cake is made with plain flour not strong flour and the mixture is mixed with a wooden spoon to form a soft mixture and is not kneaded.
  • My late father has two cousins living in Białystok, North East Poland, they are both wonderful cooks.
  • This yeast cake is based on a recipe given to me by one of these aunties.
  • As with any recipe made with yeast, timings are so unpredictable depending on many variables including the room temperature.
  • I always bake with yeast when I am at home for most of the day with other activities to do whilst waiting for the dough to rise etc.

Ingredients

Yeast Cake

  • 400g plain flour
  • 250ml of tepid milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
  • 150g of raisins or sultanas
  • 10g of fresh yeast or 5g of dried yeast

Crumble Topping

  • 2 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

Method

  • Mix the yeast with 2 tablespoons of the milk and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and leave this till it starts bubbling.
  • In a bowl whisk together the egg  and 1 tablespoon of the sugar.
  • Add the oil and whisk again.
  • Add the milk and the raisins or sultanas and mix well.
  • Add the flour and mix this all together with a wooden spoon to form a very loose, soft dough.
  • Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a cloth and leave in a warm place to rise.
  • Make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs and then stir in the sugar.
  • Grease and line a large roasting tin.
  • 25cm x 34 cm or 22cm x 32cm.
  • Put the risen dough into the tin – use a spatula to spread it out.
  • Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top and leave to rise again.

 

 

  • Pre-heat the oven to  GM6 – 200°C.
  • Place the risen cake into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Then lower the temperature to GM5 – 190°C and bake for another 10 minutes – keeping an eye on this and cover with foil if it looks like it is burning.
  • You might want also want to move it down a shelf for the last 5  minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes then take it out and remove from the greaseproof paper – so it does not go soggy on the base.

 

Served on Sonnet by Royal Doulton, 1971 – 1998.

As with most yeast cakes this is best eaten as soon as possible as it will soon go stale – you might need to invite round lots of friends and family!

If all is not eaten on the day of baking, I cut the cake into slices and pack into a plastic container and freeze – these are then toasted and served with butter at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toasted and buttered yeast cake served on Las Palmas by Aynsley from the 1960s.

Variations

The dried fruits added can be varied  and I have made this with raisins, mixed peel and 1 teaspoon of mixed spice.

 

 

 

 

Served on Counterpoint by Royal Doulton, 1973 – 1987.

Other dried fruit options can be used, such as apricots, cranberries, pears or prunes and so on,  chopping larger fruits into small pieces.

I made this with apricots, sultanas and a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla essence.

 

The dried fruits add sweetness to the cake and I think the small amount of sugar works well – you can if you like add a few extra tablespoons of sugar.

 

 

 

 

Dried Fruits at Christmas

  • In Polish households fruits that have been dried from the summer often feature as one of the 12 dishes at the evening meal at Wigilia – Christmas Eve.
  • The main fruits that were dried were: apples, pears & plums.
  • The dishes are easy to make but you need to start the process 2 or 3 days before hand.
  • I use hot black tea to reconstitute the fruits & often using Earl Grey Tea to give it a little twist but you can use just hot boiled water.

Prunes

A good deal depends on the quality of the prunes and Agen prunes from France are the best.  You need to find good plump large prunes which still have the stones in them. However these last two years I have had difficulties find these and have had to used stoned prunes.

Ingredients

  • 500g prunes
  • 1 litre of hot tea – Earl Grey is good
  • 2 tablespoons of rum

Method

  • Place the prunes in a large bowl.
  • Make a jug of hot tea and leave to brew for about 4 minutes.
  • Pour the hot tea over the prunes, if using loose leaf tea, you need to strain it as you pour.
  • Make sure all the prunes are covered by adding more hot water.
  • Leave the prunes overnight to plump up.

  • Put the prunes and liquid (you might need to add some water) into a pan and simmer gently for about 15 minutes then leave to cool.
  • Add the rum when the prunes are cold.

Pears

Ingredients

  • 500g dried pears ( they come as half a pear)
  • 1 litre of hot tea – Earl Grey is good
  • Small piece of cinnamon stick
  • 3-4 whole cloves or allspice seeds.

 

Method

  • Cut the pears in half.
  • Place the pears in a large bowl.
  • Make a jug of hot tea and leave to brew for about 4 minutes.
  • Pour the hot tea over the pears, if using loose leaf tea, you need to strain it as you pour.
  • Make sure all the pears are covered by adding more hot water.
  • Leave the pears overnight to plump up.
  • Put the pears and liquid (you might need to add some water) into a pan, add a small cinnamon stick, 3-4 cloves or 3-4 whole allspice seeds and simmer gently for about 15 minutes 15 minutes, stirring occasionally .  Take care not to cook for too long – you do not want a “mush”.
  • Remove the spices then leave to cool.

 

Dried Fruit Salad

  • My mother used to buy mixed dried fruits to make this & I have bought this in the past from the dried fruit & nut stall on Leeds Kirkstall Market.
  • When I enquired about this – the stall holder said that they had not had this mixture for many years! She did tell me that the mixture had consisted of dried – apples, apricots, peaches, pears & plums.
  • Some people make the dried fruit salad for Wigila (Christmas Eve) using 12 fruits ( another reminder of  the 12 apostles.)  So – raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries, cherries, figs and other dried berries would be used as well.

Ingredients

  • 500g mixed dried fruits
  • 1 litre of hot tea – Earl Grey is good
  • Small piece of cinnamon stick
  • 3-4 whole cloves or allspice seeds.

Method

  • Cut the larger fruits in half.
  • Place the fruits in a large bowl.
  • Make a jug of hot tea and leave to brew for about 4 minutes.
  • Pour the hot tea over the fruits , if using loose leaf tea, you need to strain it as you pour.
  • Make sure all the fruits are covered by adding more hot water.
  • Leave the fruits overnight to plump up.

 

  • Put the fruits and liquid (you might need to add some water) into a pan, add a small cinnamon stick, 3-4 cloves or 3-4 whole allspice seeds and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally .  Take care not to cook for too long – you do not want a “mush”!
  • Remove the spices  then leave to cool.

20171215_185612

 Note

When I make any of these at other times of the year, I often serve them with soured cream or plain yoghurt or a mixture of the two.

 

Mama’s Never Too Late Christmas Cake

In Medieval times in Britain on Christmas Eve a porridge made with oats, to which was added dried fruits, spices and honey was eaten.  This was the origin of Christmas Pudding.

The spices used were a reminder of the Wise Men – the 3 Kings that came from the East.

By the 16th Century as ovens became more in use, butter and eggs were added and wheat flour replaced the oats and this became the Christmas cake.

We never had this cake at home until sometime in the late 1970s when my mother tried out this recipe from a magazine.

It is a very moist cake and reminiscent of Christmas pudding.

Because it is so moist it will only keep for about 2 months but it is one that can be made really at the last minute and one year I made it just 4 days before Christmas.

However if you want to add marzipan & icing then you should make it about 2- 3 weeks in advance, to give time for this to be done.

Ingredients

900g mixture of currants, raisins & sultanas

175g chopped mixed peel (if you have a 200g tub just use it all)

175g glacé cherries cut in half (if you have a 200g tub just use it all)

Grated rind of 1 lemon & 1 orange

1 large cooking apple, peeled and coarse grated

225g fine grated carrots

1 teaspoon rum

110 ml strong cold tea (I use a scented one like Earl Grey)

**********

350g Butter or block margarine

350 g soft dark brown sugar

4 tablespoons of black treacle

6 large eggs – beaten

*************

400g plain flour – sieved

½ level teaspoon salt

6 level teaspoons mixed spice

½ level teaspoon of cinnamon

½ a grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon cocoa  – yes cocoa! – sieved

1 tablespoon ground almonds (optional)

Method

Put all the fruit, rinds, carrots, rum & tea into large bowl,  mix and leave for 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 2 – 150oC.

In another  large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar, beat in the treacle and eggs.

Mix all the dry ingredients together & fold them in using a large metal spoon.

Fold in the fruit mix using a large metal spoon.

This amount will make one of the following cake sizes:

25cm square – I find this shape the best to cut up.

25 cm diameter round

20 cm diameter round plus a small loaf.

*

  • Grease and line the cake tin.
  • Put all the cake mixture into the tin to fill the shape and smooth the top.
  • Bake at Gas Mark 2 – 150oC for –
  • 25 cm square  – 1hr 50min – 2hours
  • 10” round  –  2 ½ hours
  • 8” round plus a small loaf  (I have never tried this – will suspect around 1 ½ hours).
  • The above are guides as it does depend on your oven – you need to check earlier.

Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Wrap in several layers of foil to store.

Decorating the cake

It depends on who is coming and whether there are  lots of marzipan & icing lovers on how much I decorate the cake.

Sometimes I just dust the top with icing sugar.

Sometimes I just have marzipan on the top dusted with icing sugar  – but lately I have had marzipan & Royal Icing lovers coming so have decorated the top & used a cake frill around the sides.

Marzipan

Marzipan is a paste made from ground almonds, honey or sugar & egg white.

It is thought that it originated in China and then came to the Middle East and from there it came to some parts of Western Europe through Spain & Portugal and to Eastern Europe from Turkey.

The old name in English is marchpane and the Polish is marcepan and the name appears to come from Italy where it was known as panis martius or marzapane  which means March Bread – but why March Bread – I am not sure!

It was certainly being used in the 15th century in Europe.

Preparing the cake for marzipan

Brush the surface of the cake with warmed apricot jam.

I usually make my own marzipan but of course you can buy ready made marzipan.

If you are going to ice the cake as well then allow 1 week for the marzipan to harden so the nut oils do not discolour the icing (If you know it will be eaten quickly this is not really a problem).

Ingredients per egg white

1 egg white

75g ground almonds

40g icing sugar

40g caster sugar

1 -2 drops of almond essence

I usually do a 3 egg white amount of marzipan

Method

In a bowl mix the ground almond, icing sugar and caster sugar.

Lightly beat the egg white & add the almond essence.

Add the egg white mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon until you get a unified mass of marzipan.

You want a mixture that you can roll out – you may have to add more icing sugar to achieve this.

You need to dust a board with icing sugar to roll out the marzipan easily.

Royal Icing

This icing uses egg whites and give a firm icing good for doing fancy decorations (which I do not do!).

Using sugar to make icing  was a sign of wealth & power and this became very popular in Victorian times.

It was used on Queen Victoria’s wedding cake in 1840 and so got the name Royal.

You can ice right up to the last minute but it does take around a week for the icing to fully harden.

Ingredients per egg white

1 egg white

300g icing sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon ( this is optional but I usually use it)

If just doing the top of the cake I would use 2 egg whites.

Note

You can buy powdered Royal icing which is icing sugar & dried egg white and you just add water or water & lemon juice. (I have used it but have used fresh egg whites as well!)

Method

Lightly beat the egg whites and then mix in the lemon juice.

Add the icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time and keep mixing until you have have the icing thick enough to work with.

Spread the icing on top of the marzipan using a small spatula & have a mug of hot water at hand to dip the spatula in.

I do not do any fancy icing – just random peaks – also achieved using a spatula.

Some new Christmas cake decorations bought recently

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