Ingredients
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants or chopped dates
1 cup candied oranges
1/2 cup dried; cranberries
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup spiced or gold rum(my preferred rum is Costco spiced rum, mellow and fruity)
2/3 cup demerara or light brown sugar
1 cup dark fruit juice(black mulberry, tart cherry or pomegranate) not from concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/3 teaspoon ground allspice
2/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups all-purpose gluten free – or regular all-purpose flour sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
½ to 1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans
More rum for basting and/or spritzing
If you don’t have all the fruit, replace with some others with same amount. I would say candied orange peels, and raisins are the most important items. If you want lighter color, you can also use orange or tangerine juice instead of dark fruit juice.
Instructions
Remove the tiny stems from raisins and currants. Some are hard to see, check each one
Chop large dried and candied fruits to same size.
Chop/break the walnuts to similar size and toast in oven until they are fragrant.
Pour the rum into a medium/large saucepan.
Add all the dried and candied fruits and on a medium heat bring into a simmer, stirring frequently.
Add sugar, butter, fruit juice, vanilla extract, salt and spices.
Bring mixture to a gentle boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Place a large pan filled with water onto the bottom shelf, and heat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder and sift into fruit mixture.
Bring batter together then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts.
Prepare a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with a parchment paper at the bottom – 10 inch would work too.
Spoon the mix into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.
Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.
Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with rum and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.
You can serve it with mascarpone cheese, or rum/cognac butter - recipe below
When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every week, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with rum.
The cake's flavor will enhance over the next two weeks, and will stay good for 4-6 months.
Rum/cognac butter recipe
0.75 cup unsalted butter
0.75 cup powdered sugar
0.25 cup rum/cognac
Cream the butter sugar until pale and soft, gradually beat the rum and then chill until firm
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