Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake by Nigella Lawson

This recipe has been taken from the book Nigella Christmas, and adapted to what was available in the pantry. After watching Nigella prepare this delicious looking cake on her Christmas TV series, I was instantly transfixed and absolutely had to make it. So on Amazon.co.uk (my regular cookbook supplier) I went. However the book only arrived after Christmas so here it is for you to enjoy- better late than never!

Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake

Serves 10-12
 

350g prunes, chopped (I used a mezzaluna to chop- much easier)

150g raisins (the recipe says 250g but didn’t have enough so substituted with the currants)

275g currants

175g soft butter

175g dark cane sugar

225g honey

125ml Kahlua (the recipe says Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur)

Juice and finely grated zest of three small oranges

1 teaspoon mixed spice

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 eggs, beaten

150g plain flour

75g ground almonds

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Decoration- I just used dessert almonds and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Preheat oven to 150°C and line a 20cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin.

Put fruits, butter, sugar, honey, Kahlua, orange juice and zest, spice and cocoa powder into a large saucepan and gently bring to boil.

Simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and let stand for 30 minutes.

Once cooled, add the beaten eggs, flour, ground almond, baking powder and baking soda, and stir to combine.

Pour fruit cake mixture into prepare cake tin. Place in oven and bake for 1 ¾-2 hours hours. 

After this time the top of the cake should be firm but have a shiny sticky look. (I followed these instructions but felt that the cake looked a little over cooked- harder and darker around the edges. Would probably recommend to go on the lighter side for oven time.)

Put the cake (still in its tin) on a wire cooling rack. Once cool, take it out of the tin. If you don’t want to eat it immediately, wrap in greaseproof paper and then foil. Store in an airtight container.

Nigella says you can make this cake up to 2 weeks ahead and store it in an airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Verdict: Delicious (as predicted). As you can see, it didn’t last long!