D&C Monthly Recipe - Rum-Soaked Fruit & Almond Cake
Rum-Soaked Fruit & Almond Cake
INGREDIENTS
- Sultanas 100g
- Raisins 100g
- Dark glacé cherries 50g, chopped
- Crystallized ginger 50g, chopped
- Dark rum 4 Tbsp
- Butter 200g, softened, plus more for the tin
- Light muscovado sugar 200g
- Eggs 3, beaten
- Black treacle 1 Tbsp
- Self-raising flour 220g
- Mixed spice 2 tsp
- Ground ginger 1 tsp
- Baking powder 1 tsp
- Apples 2 small, peeled and grated
ALMOND BUTTERCREAM
- Salted butter 185g, at room
- Temperature
- Icing sugar 300g
- Almond extract 1 tsp
INSTRUCTIONS
- Tip the dried fruits, ginger and rum into a bowl and leave to soak for a couple of hours or overnight, if you like. Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the bottom of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
- Beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle, self-raising flour, mixed spice, ground ginger and baking powder with electric beaters, until thick. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the apples, soaked dried fruit and any soaking liquid.
- Spoon the batter into a round 20cm loose bottom or Spring Tin, level the top and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until dark golden, springy to the touch and it’s slightly shrunk away from the sides of the tin. A skewer pushed into the center will come out clean when it’s ready.
- Cool, wrap in baking paper and put in an airtight container. Will keep for
a week before icing, or it can be frozen. Defrost overnight at room temperature before decorating. - To make the buttercream, put the butter into a bowl and gradually beat in the icing sugar and almond extract using electric beaters until fluffy. Spread all over the cake using a spatula.
Enjoy!