Foodie Friday On A Saturday - Mummy Lou's Gluten Free Boiled Fruit Cake

I'm such a bad blogger at the moment that I may as well permanently rename this series Foodie Friday On A Saturday. I hope you'll forgive but I went Christmas shopping with Mummy Lou yesterday and I was feeling a bit bedraggled last night x

I'm mentioned a couple of times on the blog about food items that I associate with my childhood. Well this recipe is another one of those. This cake was probably the cake of my childhood bar a chocolate butter cream sponge made to look like a ladybird :). So many people don't like fruitcake, it's too dark, it's not sweet enough, it's too dry. yeah I've heard it all, but this one is different. This is quite a light fruitcake, dominated by luscious juicy, moist fruit. This is the gluten free version that my mum devised from her original recipe but if your not gluten free, this works perfectly well with normal wheat flour x The method is a little odd but give it a go, it's well worth it x

Mummy Lou's Gluten Free Boiled Fruit Cake

1/4 Pint Water 

1 Tea Bag (Optional)

1 Ttsp Vanilla Extract

100g Butter Or Margarine

100g Sugar 

300g Dried Fruit

1 Egg

200g Gluten Free (Or Normal) Self Raising Flour

1. Measure out 1/4 of a pint of boiling water, and use it to infuse a tea bag for about 10 minutes - it can be a normal tea bag or something vanilla or spice based - I'm using a Twinings Herbal Sensations Camomile And Maple Sensations tea bag which I reviewed here. You don't have to do this if you don't want to but I like the extra warmth and flavour that the tea gives x If your not using tea measure out 1/4 of a pint of water and move on to step two.

2. Measure out your butter or matgarine (I'm using half and half here),

your sugar - I'm using golden granulated infused with a vanilla pod here x 

and your fruit, again you can use any dried fruit you like, I'm using sultanas. Then add the fat, the sugar and the fruit to a large saucepan.

3. Then add your water or tea and the vanilla extract to the pan and bring it the the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes

4. After about 20 minutes the fruit should be plump, and the mixture should almost have formed a sticky sauce. Take it off the heat and leave it to cool for about 20 minutes.

5. Crack your egg into a small bowll a give it a good beat x

Then add it into your cooled fruit and give it a good mix.

6. Preheat your oven to 150 C and grease and line a loaf tin.

7. Then measure out your flour

and stir it well into your fruit mix a little bit at a time.

Your mix should be of a soft dropping consistency, if its too wet add a little bit more flour, and if it's too dry and a little bit more egg or a little bit of milk.

8. Then spoon it into your loaf tin and bake for about 1 and a half hours.

9. Check it after an hour though - the cake should spring back when it's cooked and a skewer should come out clean when it's inserted into the middle.

Leave it in the tin for about an hour until it's cooled before removing and transferring to a cooling rack (those are my mums experiment - lime and chocolate chip biscuits in the background)

Voila - slice and serve x It keeps for a few days in an air tight tin or wrapped in foil or cling film x 

This really is one of my favourite cakes and reminds me so much of my childhood my mum used to make a huge one on a Sunday and we have yummy cake for the rest of the week. I can't guarantee that this will convert fruit cake haters but it's definitely worth a try x You can obviously vary the fruits and the flavourings adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, or whatever else you like. Are you a fruit cake fan let me know and I'd love to know what recipes remind you of your childhood x