Golden Orange Fruit Cake

This lovely cake is a good alternative to the traditional dark fruit cake for Christmas!  The fruit and orange combination is just delicious and It improves after a day or so, plus keeps for several days, as long as it is in an air tight container.  The orange juice and extract smell wonderful as you are mixing. You can purchase orange extract in any supermarket - I bought mine in Asda for just over a £1. It has an intense zesty flavour.

Start an hour or so, before you make the cake as you need to soak the fruit in some brandy. Or rum if you prefer.

Lightly oil and line a large loaf tin with strips of parchment for ease of lifting out. Preheat your fan oven to 150C.

In a medium bowl:

5 oz dried cranberries

3 oz chopped dried apricots

3 oz large yellow sultanas [I bought these in Grape Tree]

3 oz very finely chopped mixed peel [use M&S - they are the best and are cut into smaller bits]

2 fl oz brandy

Stir well, then leave until the brandy is all soaked up by the fruit. See photo on my Blog of the lovely golden colours and red.

Make the cake:

4 oz room temperature butter

5 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs

8 oz Self Raising Flour

½ teaspoon mixed spice [if you wish]

2 fl oz fresh orange juice [I squeezed 2 clementines]

½ teaspoon orange extract

Use the creaming method. Beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, then whisk in the eggs, then the flour, juice and extract. Stir in the fruit and mix well. Tip into your prepared tin.

Bake for approx 1¼ hours. But check after an hour and turn down for the last few mins. A great alternative for Christmas! You can ice the top if you wish, adding a couple of drops of orange extract to the icing sugar. I also grated some zest over for even more flavour. Don’t forget to leave it for a day or so before you try it.

Many folk do not like mixed peel!!!! I am Cornish and all our cakes use it, so I am hooked!Why not try this using extra apricots and sultanas?