Farmhouse Fruit Cake

You might be thinking about baking your Christmas cake about now . Here’s a simpler recipe that also improves with age and fills the kitchen with seasonal spicy aromas.

Ingredients

4oz plain flour

pinch salt

5oz wholewheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon mixed spice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 oz soft brown sugar

4oz butter

½ lb dried mixed fruit

2oz chopped mixed peel

2 beaten eggs

2 tablespoons marmalade

milk

Method

Preheat oven to 160°. Grease and lightly flour an 8 inch cake tin or line it with greaseproof paper.

Sift the plain flour and salt into a bowl, then stir in the wholewheat flour ,baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon and sugar. Rub in the butter. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Stir in a little milk if the mixture seems too stiff.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 1½ hours . If it looks like it’s browning too much, cover the surface with greaseproof paper.