Friday 19 December 2014

Easy 3 Ingredient Christmas Cake

In case you had not yet noticed, I like to cook. I also like to share. Coming together with friends, family, colleagues, anyone, over food is always a most pleasing experience. This week at work, we held our last team meeting for the year. We organised an afternoon tea to celebrate the end of another year and of course, Christmas. We were all to 'bring a plate," which naturally got me racking my brain for something delectable to bring along. I wanted my contribution to be homemade, festive and of course delicious, but as usual it had to be relatively quick and easy to make. When I stumbled across this recipe, I knew right away that I had to make it and share it with my colleagues.

Easy 3 Ingredient Christmas Cake
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2-2.5 hours

Ingredients:
1kg dried fruit (I used a combination of sultanas, currants, apricots, dates, cranberries and glace cherries)
750ml black tea
2 cups (300g) self raising flour

Method 
1. Place dried fruit in a large glass bowl and pour over black tea. Cover with glad wrap and leave to soak overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 180 C (or 160C fan forced) and line a large baking tin with baking paper.
3. Sift the flour over the combined fruit and tea. Stir well to combine.
4. Transfer the mixture into the lined baking tin. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 2-2.5 hours, or until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
5. When cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack.
6. Cut into pieces and enjoy with a cuppa for a festive treat!

The dried fruit soaking in the black tea 
 
 
 The finished product, studded with pecan halves and decorated with Christmas decorations.

 
Notes: 
- You could make this recipe with any 1kg combination of fruit
- I think this would be nice with the addition of some chopped walnuts or pecans into the mixture
- Adding cinnamon, mixed spice, vanilla essence or cocoa powder would also add another flavour dimension..... I'm sure a dash of brandy or sherry would also do the trick!
- You can apparently also make this cake using 750ml black coffee, iced coffee or chocolate milk instead of the black tea 
 - I'm sure you could experiment with various flours including wholemeal, coconut or spelt flour for an added nutrient boost.


I really like that this cake was so easy to prepare but certainly made a statement when presented! It has an incredibly moist texture too. Even better is that there is no added fats or sugar in this recipe - a real rarity!  

This cake certainly proved to be a hit both at home and at work. It's so easy and I'm sure I'll be making it again for that very reason! Let me know if you make this cake yourself, and please share any interesting variations that you come up with! I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe, happy and healthy Christmas. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, reading my recipes and hopefully trying them out as well. Happy Christmas,

- Em x

Acknowledgement: I would like to acknowledge kidspot for the original recipe for this cake. It's too good not to share!!

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