1940’s Thrifty Fruit Cake

I adapted this recipe for my cooking demonstration at this years Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. Based on a 1940’s fruit cake recipe – usually made at Christmas time during WWII when supplies were rationed and not available for regular types of fruit cakes.

Of course they would not have had the luxury of soaking the raisins in cider or the seed mix but I used it to add more flavour and consistency to the cake.

Ingredients

1 cup seedless raisins

½ cup windfall plums (chopped).

2 cups Aspalls Premier Cru Cyder (You can use water if preferred).

½ cup Hill Farm extra virgin Rapeseed Oil (Vegetable oil works well too).

1 ¾ cups Flour

1 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 cup Sugar

1tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Salt

½ cup Munchy original or omega sprinkle seed mix

1 x egg beaten

Method

Set the oven to 160 oC.  Place the raisins and the cider into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the Rapeseed oil and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Sift all the dry ingredients together and add to the pan . Stir in the chopped plums and the seed mix. Finally add the beaten egg.

Pour into 2 greased loaf tins and bake for 45mins – 1 hour