Surrey Homes | SH42 | April 2018 | Garden supplement inside

Makes 30-40 slices Prep time: 20 mins.
Cooking time: 2 ½ hours
This is my grandmother’s recipe, so very special to me. The cake
is intensely fruity and moist. I sometimes make it in the evening,
turning the oven off after two and a half hours and leaving it in
the oven overnight so it has time to settle. In an airtight container,
wrapped in greaseproof paper, it will keep for months.
• 1 kg/2¼ lb (10 cups)
mixed dried fruit, plus an
extra 50 g/2 oz
• (½ cup) each of sultanas
or golden raisins and
currants
• 12 pitted prunes, chopped
• 1 x 400-g/14-oz can
sweetened condensed milk
• 225 g/8 oz (2 sticks)
butter
• 1 tablespoon black treacle
Nana’s fruit cake
(molasses)
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
or corn syrup
• dash vanilla extract
• dash brandy
• 350 ml/12 fl oz (1½ cups)
water
• 50 g/2 oz (½ cup) flaked
(slivered) almonds
• 1 slightly heaped teaspoon
bicarbonate of soda
(baking soda)
• 1 teaspoon mixed
(apple pie) spice
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 300 g/11 oz
(scant 2½ cups) plain
(all-purpose) flour
• 1 slightly heaped teaspoon
baking powder
1Preheat the oven to
140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1.
Line a 23-cm/ 9-inch square
cake pan with parchment
(baking) paper. Put the dried
fruit, prunes, condensed milk,
butter, treacle (molasses),
syrup, vanilla and brandy
into a pan. Add the water
and bring to a simmer for 5
minutes.
2Let cool slightly before
stirring in the almonds,
bicarbonate
of soda (baking soda) and
spices. Finally, incorporate
the flour and baking powder
a bit at a time, stirring well
between each addition.
3Pour the mixture into the
prepared pan and bake
for 2½ hours. Turn off the
oven and leave the cake in
there to settle – I usually do
this overnight. The
following day, turn
it out and store it
as described in the
introduction.
The Great Dixter Cookbook is published by Phaidon £24.95. Surrey Homes readers can buy it with a 30% discount
and free UK shipping, using the code DX30 at phaidon.com/dixter offer open until 25 June. Aaron Bertelsen is
appearing at The Garden Hub at the Midsummer Fair, see page 22 in the Garden Supplement.
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