weekend :: Whisky, date and walnut cake

Autumn...mmm...

Whisky, date and walnut cake

This is a moist fruit cake that contains dried vine fruits and cherries as well as fudgy chewy medjool dates and has a topping of crunchy walnuts. It's flavoured with treacly muscovado sugar and a splash of whisky or you could use your favourite liqueur.

Ingredients:

• Nineteen ounces of dried fruit, raisins, sultanas, candid peel etc including medjool dates (with the stones removed and chopped into pieces about 1cm cubed)and undyed glace cherries.
• Ten ounces of sifted Self Raising flour
• Five ounces of Muscovado or golden caster sugar or a mixture of both
• Eight ounces of butter or alternative
• A little natural vanilla extract
• A little malt whisky
• Walnuts to decorate the top of the cake
• Eight fluid ounces of water
• Two large eggs, beaten well
• One level tsp of mixed spice
• One level tsp of baking powder
• A little apricot jam to glaze

You will need a heavy bottomed saucepan and a deep eight inch baking pan lined with a double of layer of baking parchment. You can see how to do this here.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150c/300f.
2. Prepare the baking pan by greasing and lining and then put to one side.
3. Place the butter or alternative into the saucepan and melt.
4. Add all the other fruits, water, spices, vanilla extract, alcohol if using and sugar. Cover and simmer for twenty minutes until the fruits have all plumped up and the sugar has dissolved. 
5. Take off the heat and allow to cool. You may speed this up by filling the sink with cold water and standing the pan in it.
6. Once cooled down (not cold or the butter will begin to harden)remove from the sink and add the eggs and flour and mix well.
7. Carefully spoon the mixture into the lined cake pan. Arrange walnuts on the top and then glaze with a little apricot jam. If it's a thick jam thin with a little warm water. Place on a baking tray and cook in the centre of the oven for an hour. Remove the baking parchment and then cook for a further fifteen minutes until a lovely golden brown colour. Test with a skewer to ensure that it's cooked in the middle. 
8. Leave to cool in the tin for five or ten minutes. Carefully remove from the tin and place on a rack to cool further. 

This cake keeps really well in an air tight container. I think that it improves with age as the flavours mature. 

Have a cool week...
debx