Delicious Fruit Mince Tea Cake

 

This is the perfect recipe for using up that large jar of fruit mince at the back of your pantry, which was intended for Christmas fruit mince pies, but it just didn't quite happen. Can you remember way back then? This versatile cake is light enough in taste and texture for a delicious afternoon tea or dessert at anytime throughout the year and then in the lead up to Christmas, the cake can be decorated in the Christmas tradition, some Christmas spirit added, and you have a wonderful cake to share with friends and family. However two pieces later this afternoon, Mr. HRK thinks it is delicious just the way it is.

Christmas in July is popular here in Australia, when during Winter we can pretend we are experiencing Christmas during the cold of Winter, just like in the Northern Hemisphere, and in some areas in the Southern States, it might even snow. This cake is perfect as a Christmas in July fruit cake, just add 1 tablespoon of Rum or Brandy, serve it with cream, mascarpone, or ice cream, and it would be a perfect dessert. I also love it eaten warm for morning or afternoon tea, sprinkled with icing sugar, which is how we ate it today. There's no need to add any extra spices to this recipe, as in a jar of fruit mince they've already been added. Spices like Cinnamon, Dill, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg and a hint of Coriander, are already included in the Fruit Mince I used, and the smell of this cake cooking in the oven is just heavenly. The aroma filled the house. This cake only takes around 15 minutes to prepare, 50 minutes to cook, and doesn't require an electric mixer, so it is quick to put together and perfect to make on the day of eating. Tea cakes are best eaten on the day of baking. No problem in our house.

Decorated with edible and colourful nasturtium petals from our garden

I used Robertson's Traditional Fruit Mince in a bottle, and I bought two large jars when they were on sale after Christmas. Using the bottled Fruit Mince makes this a very economical fruit cake to bake, as leading up to Christmas, dried fruits become very expensive to make a traditional Christmas Fruit cake, however I still make one every year. I love the tradition. If you make your own fruit mince it would be perfect in this cake.

Ingredients:

Serves 10

2 cups (250 g) plain flour

1/2 cup (110 g) castor sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bi-carbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg beaten

1/4 cup (65 ml) vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 cups Fruit Mince

1 tablespoon Rum or Brandy (optional)

Preparation method:

Preparation: 10 minutes : Cook 50 minutes

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line your tin with baking paper, a 23 x 13 cm loaf tin, or use a 23 cm round tin.

Mix together the wet ingredients, the egg, oil, orange rind, juice and fruit mince, blending well. 

Sift the flour with the baking powder, bi-carb of soda and salt into a bowl, and combine with the sugar, and add gradually to the egg mixture. 

Mix until just moist.

 Pour into the greased and lined  tin.

Bake in your preheated moderate oven for 50 minutes, it might take a bit longer depending on your oven. When cooked, remove the cake from the oven, cool on a wire rack.

This is delicious to eat when still slightly warm. 

And because  it's Winter, I had a large pot of Chicken and vegetable stock, simmering away on the stove at the same time. Makes sense as I was hovering around the kitchen anyway.  Chicken carcasses are such an economical way to make chicken stock, it's too expensive to buy a whole chicken these days for soup. I'll make the stock into Chicken  and Vegetable Barley Soup tomorrow.

Stored away for tomorrow.

Hoping your week goes well.

Warm wishes,

Pauline