Since I began my baking a full week ahead of Christmas, it gave me plenty of time to try out a few different kinds of cakes this time around.Of course I ‘had’ to begin with my mom’s all famous ‘fruit n nut’ cake. Most of the cakes I bake follow the basic cake recipe and just a few additional ingredients give them their own identity.
Here’s to you ma, blogging my very first recipe of your cake.
Simple to make, hard to resist, crunchy and munchy cake.
fruit n nut cake
Ingredients
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
3 eggs
It is essential for the butter, milk and eggs to be at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 heaped tsp baking powder
5-6 drops of good vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of instant coffee powder (optional)
1 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
1/3 cup of raisins
1/3 cup of cashewnuts
1/3 cup of mixed candied fruit
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 – 3 spoons caramelized sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Caramelize 2 -3 spoons of sugar. When done, whisk in the milk, cocoa, coffee powder and nutmeg until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temp
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, add in the vanilla, and the caramel milk mixture
Add in the orange zest
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt using a sieve
Stir in the dry ingredients into the wet, a little at a time. Don’t over mix it
Mix the dry fruits and nuts together and fold into the batter. Keep a little of the dry fruit mixture aside to sprinkle on top (purely for aesthetics).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spread batter evenly in a greased pan, dusted with flour and bake for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool to a warm temp.
Serve immediately or wrap in aluminium foil when still warm (prevents drying) to store for later.
The above is an exact of my mother’s recipe, I improvised it a little and soaked the raisins overnight in 1/2 cup of rum to give it that extra zing 
and called it the ‘rum n raisin’ cake instead 
