Green tea and marmalade fruitcake squares
- A little tricky
- Makes 20
Ingredients
- 450g/1lb Dried mixed fruit
- 300ml/½ pint Hot green tea, strained if needed
- 250g/9oz Self raising wholemeal flour
- 75g/3oz Light muscovado sugar
- 1 Dessert apple, cored and coarsely grated
- Zest of ½ lemon, grated
- Zest of ½ orange, grated
- 1tbsp Fine-cut orange marmalade to glaze
Method
- STEP 1
Add the fruit to a bowl, pour over the hot tea, cover and leave to soak for 4 hours or overnight.
- STEP 2
Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3. Cut a piece of baking parchment a little larger than a 20cm/8in shallow square cake tin, snip into the corners then press the paper into the tin so that the base and sides are lined.
- STEP 3
Add the flour to a larger bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the apple and citrus zest then the soaked fruit and any remaining tea in the bottom of the bowl. Stir together until well mixed.
- STEP 4
Spoon into the tin, spread level and bake for 50–55 minutes until browned on top and firm to the touch. To test insert a skewer into the centre; it will come out clean when the cake is ready.
- STEP 5
Leave the cake to cool for 20 minutes in the tin then loosen the edge, lift the cake out by the paper and put on to a wire rack, spread the top with the marmalade and leave to cool.
- STEP 6
Cut the cake into bars then pack into a plastic container, interleaving with extra baking parchment. Cut into squares when needed. Store for up to 1 week.
Cook’s tip: as this cake is packed with fruit it almost improves with keeping. You might like to wrap up one of the strips of cake, label and freeze for another time.