Chocolate Fruit and Nuke Cake

It’s a shame to keep fruit cakes just for Christmas and weddings. This one is simple, fairly light and easy to make for a weekend party. With a combination of almond sponge, glace cherries (the naturally coloured ones are best), the largest and juiciest raisins you can find, walnut halves and chunks of plain chocolate, there’s no need for an icing or topping.

Best eating within 1 week. Can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Use a springform or deep cake tin, 22cm diameter buttered and base-lined.

Ingredients

Cake

• 150g large seedless raisins
• 75g glace cherries, halved
• 2 tablespoons rum, oragne guice or cold tea
• 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• 225g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 85g ground almonds
• 100g plain chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 100g walnut pieces

Icing

• 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 125 g cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted (NOT USED FOR CAKE)

Method

Cake

1. Put the rasins, cherries and rum into a small bowl, stir, then cover with clingfilm and let soak for atleast 2 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Put the butter into a mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds onto the creamed mixture, and using a large metal spoon, fold the dry incredients into the mixture. Add the fruit and rum mixture, the chopped chocolate and walnuts and gently stir in until thoroughly blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
3. Bake in a preheated over at 180℃ for 1-1¼ hours until the top is golden brown, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the tin, then invert onto a wire rack, remove the lining paper and cool completely.
4. Wrap in greaseproof paper and keep overnight before cutting. Store in an airtight container

Icing

Dad added the icing without the cocoa powder

1. Put the butter, cream cheese and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until soft and creamy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and cocoa to make a thick, smooth mixture: if using an electric mixer use low speed.