Apricot and ginger loaf cake is another variation on the classic fruit loaf. Baked in a square tin it can be easily sliced and eaten as it is, or spread with a little butter if you prefer. Soaking the fruit in tea the night before really brings out the flavours and makes a fruit loaf you will just want more of!

What’s more, ginger also has it’s medical uses. Research has concluded that ginger is an effective treatment for nausea caused by motion sickness or other illness. It also contains many antioxidants. Although effective against all forms of nausea, many health professionals do not recommend taking ginger for morning sickness commonly associated with pregnancy.

Enough of the health benefits – back to the recipe!

Ingredients

3/4 pint..425ml warm brewed tea
6oz…180g sugar
8oz…240g dried mixed fruit
8oz….240g dried apricots
2 tbs marmalade
1 egg, beaten
1lb…480g self raising flour
1 heaped tbs baking powder
2-3 teaspoons ground ginger

A greased and lined (greaseproof or waxed paper) 8in/20cm square cake tin (pan).

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Preheat the oven to 180 deg C, 350 deg F, Gas Mark 4.

Chop the apricots and put them in a bowl with the dried fruit and sugar. Pour over the tea, stir well, and leave to soak for several hours, preferably overnight if you want your apricot and ginger loaf cake to be really moist and full of flavour.

After soaking, add the beaten egg and marmalade to the fruit mixture and mix well. Sieve the flour, baking powder and ginger together and gently fold into the fruit mixture. The mixture should be just wet enough to drop from a wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the bowl. Add a few drops of water if it’s too dry, or sprinkle in a little flour if it’s too moist.

Spoon the mixture from the bowl into the prepared, greased and lined, tin which is placed in the middle of the oven for about 1 1/4 hours. As always, check the loaf just before the end of the cooking time by pushing a skewer, or similar, into the middle of the loaf. It will come out dry and virtually clean when the loaf is cooked.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

Like many fruit cakes this apricot and ginger loaf cake will get better if it’s kept a while. So try to put it away in an airtight container for at least a day before eating. But if you want some straight away, then nobody can blame you!

Enjoy it with or without some butter or margarine, depending on how you like it.

This is a really easy Christmas cake recipe. The fruit and other ingredients are boiled together first which means that the finished fruit cake is very moist and there is no arm-aching creaming together of sugar and fat. To finish the cake an easy lemon white icing is used. The sharpness of the lemon balances the sweetness of the cake nicely. Why not try it? It really is an easy homemade cake that makes a nice fuit cake to eat any time of the year.

Ingredients

1500 g…3 lb 5 oz of mixed dried fruit
(Buy it mixed or mix your own with sultanas, currants, cherries, raisins, apricots, dates, etc)
6 tbsp brandy, or similar if you prefer a different spirit
250 g…9 oz butter or margarine, chopped into chunks
400 g…14 oz dark brown sugar, Muscovado is ideal
5 medium eggs, beaten
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp black treacle, or molasses
375 g…13 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
250 g…9 oz chopped mixed nuts
50 g…2 oz ground almonds

For the icing (frosting):

435 g…16 oz icing sugar
1 egg white, or equivalent water/gelatin mix
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
Holly leaves (washed) to decorate

One greased, deep 20cm/8in cake tin, double lined wih waxed or greaseproof paper.

Preheat the oven to 150 deg C, 300 deg F, Gas Mark 2.

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Start the easy Christmas cake recipe by placing the dried fruit along with the butter or margarine, sugar, molasses, brandy, orange rind and orange juice in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil gently and the leave to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down.

When cool, add the chopped nuts, beaten eggs and ground almonds and stir thoroughly.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and spice together and then stir gently into the mix until completely blended.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin, roughly level the top and place in the centre of the preheated oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour turn the oven down to 140 deg C, 275 deg F, Gas Mark 1 and continue to bake for about 2 1/4 hours.

If the top of the cake is browning too much and drying out, cover it with a layer of foil or greaseproof paper for protection. Test to see if a skewer, or similar, comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the cake. If not test again after 10-15 minutes.

Remove the fruit cake from the oven when cooked and allow to cool in the tin on a wire rack. To store, turn out of the tin, wrap in foil and/or greaseproof/waxed paper and store in an airtight container until time to decorate.

Open from time to time and drizzle with a little brandy for a realy delicious cake!

For decorating – beat together the icing sugar, lemon juice, egg white and vanilla essence in a bowl. If you prefer not to eat raw egg, substitute a few tablespoons of water/gelatin instead. When the icing mix is smooth and well blended, roughly spread it over the cake using a knife, before using a fork to rough it up into an attractive pattern. Finish by decorating with the holly leaves, or any other Christmas cake decorations.

Share this easy Christmas cake recipe with friends and then you’ll have even more to eat yourself. Only joking – share the homemade cake as well, not just the recipe!

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There are so many fruit cake recipes it’s difficult to know where to start!

Everybody has their favourite recipe – either handed down through the family or discovered hiding on the page of a cookery book or magazine. I love fruit cake recipes, in fact, I probably enjoy making fruit cakes more than anything else, even more than luxurious chocolate cakes. There’s something so wholesome about all that dried fruit, and so many of the good fruit cakes include a splash of alcohol!

Here’s a slightly different fruit cake recipe with a splash of rum and full of raisins, dates, whole glace cherries and nuts.

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Fruit Cake With Mixed Nuts

Ingredients

8 oz glace cherries
2 oz (1/3 cup) chopped candied peel
3 fl oz (3/8 cup) rum
1 tsp butter
The grated rind of 1 lemon
3 oz (1/2 cup) seedless raisins
7 oz (1 1/4 cups) stoned and chopped dates
5 oz (1 cup) chopped walnuts
5 oz (1 cup) chopped almonds
4 oz (1 cup) flour
6 oz (3/4 cup) sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs

Grease a deep, round 8 inch cake tin and line with greaseproof or waxed paper.

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Preheat the oven to 300 deg F, 150 deg C, Gas Mark 2.

Mix the candied peel and cherries in a bowl with the rum and leave to soak, giving the mixture an occasional stir. After 30-45 minutes drain the fruit from the rum, keeping the rum for later. Soak the fruit in the rum for longer to make a really succulent fruit cake.

Using a wooden spoon, gently mix all the fruit in a bowl with the nuts, before sifting in the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix gently but thoroughly until all the fruit is lightly coated with the flour mixture.

Beat the eggs and add to the dry ingredients, stirring gently until thoroughly mixed. Spoon the mixture from the bowl into the prepared cake tin and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until cooked. As usual, test with a skewer or cocktail stick – when inserted into the centre it should come out clean. The top of the cake can be protected with some foil if it starts to burn during baking.

When cooked, remove the cake from the oven and carefully pour or spoon the rum over the hot cake. It will provide a slight glaze when cool. After about 30 minutes cooling in the tin, carefully remove the cake from the tin but wait until completely cool before removing the greaseproof or waxed paper.

Make a nice cup of tea or coffee and enjoy a slice of homemade cake while browsing for more fruit cake recipes!