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Apricot & almond fruitcake

By Sarah Cook

This bake is lighter than the traditional rich fruitcake and is a blank canvas to ice and decorate as you wish

Prep:30 mins
Cook:1 hrs 25 mins

Serves 12
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 486
fat 27g
saturates 12g
carbs 56g
sugars 43g
fibre 3g
protein 7g
salt 0.53g

Ingredients

140g golden sultanas
4 tbsp sherry
250g pack butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
250g light soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, beaten
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g ground almonds
50g toasted flaked almonds
140g dried apricots, chopped
140g mixed peel
zest and juice 1 lemon
zest and juice 1 orange

Method

Mix the sultanas and sherry and set aside for 1 hr to soak.
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a deep, 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin, and line the base and sides with a double layer of baking parchment that comes about 2.5cm above the sides of the tin. In your largest mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, and the ground and flaked almonds. Next, add the soaked sultanas with any remaining sherry, the dried apricots, the mixed peel, and all the zest and juice. Scrape into the cake tin, smoothing out the surface.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hr 25 mins. Poke with a skewer in the centre to check it is cooked – if the skewer comes out with any uncooked mixture stuck to it, bake for 10 mins more before checking again. Cool in the tin. Decorated, or wrapped in greaseproof paper and foil, the cake will keep for up to a month.

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