This super simple cake is a gorgeously easy and adaptable – you can use any dried fruits or nuts you might have in your cupboard; you can swap the egg for a vegan replacement, you can use gluten-free flour or a different type of tea if you don’t have Earl Grey. It’s perfect for teatime treat or thinly sliced and toasted the next day with a cup of coffee.

It has very little added sugar and no butter or oil whatsoever and yet it keeps beautifully moist – and it’s been an absolute winner every time I’ve made it.

Ingredients:

110g raisins

110g dates

110g sultanas

50g apricots  

(NB these fruits are suggestions – you can use whatever you can find / prefer)

50g brown or golden caster sugar

150ml of hot Earl Grey tea (or you could use chai or Lady Grey or Lapsang etc.)

50g nuts (I like to use walnuts or cashews)

1 tbsp mixed spice (I used cinnamon, garam masala and ginger)

1 large egg (or vegan flax egg)

225g plan flour (or gluten-free white flour alternative)

1.5 tsps baking powder

1-2 tablespoons milk (can replace with non-dairy)

1 x loaf tin, lined with baking paper or well-greased

Method

1.     Place the dried fruits in a bowl and then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea and pour this over the fruits. Leave them to soak up the liquid so that they become juicy – if possible, leave for at least 3 hours or overnight.

2.     When ready to make the cake, pre-heat your oven to 170°C, gas mark 3. Place the nuts on a baking tray for about 8 minutes max. to allow them to toast but not to burn.

3.     Remove the nuts from the oven once then have toasted and leave them on one side to cool – then once cooled chop them roughly. 

4.     Next beat the egg and add it to the fruits. Give it a good stir and then sift in the flour, baking powder and spices. Then add the milk and mix until well combined.

6.     Next spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, making sure the mixture is completely level – you can do this by using the back of a metal spoon dipped in cold water.

7.     Now place the cake on a lower shelf so that the top of the tin is aligned with the centre of the oven. Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour until it feels springy in the centre and until a skewer or knife comes out clean.

8.     Remove from the oven and turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack to cool completely – and once cooled, slice it up and ENJOY! Some like to serve it with a generous spread of butter, but I enjoy it on its own – even toasted for breakfast the next day. It also freezes well too!