British · serves 2
Christmas Cake
Fruit soaked in apple juice, flaxseed instead of eggs, two and a half hours in a low oven.
Ingredients
- 800g mixed dried fruit
- 60ml apple juice
- 25g ground flaxseed
- 180ml water
- 250g self-raising flour
- 180g butter, softened
- 180g dark brown sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 50g ground almonds
- 100g whole almonds
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Apricot jam and marzipan to finish
Method
- Soak the dried fruit in the apple juice for 30 minutes.
- Stir the flaxseed into the water and leave 10 minutes until it goes gluey. That is the egg replacement.
- Sift half the flour into the soaked fruit and mix — coating the fruit is what stops it sinking.
- Sift the rest of the flour into a bowl with butter, sugar, both zests, both almonds, the spices, salt, baking powder and the flaxseed gel. Stir.
- Fold the floured fruit in.
- Lined 20cm springform tin. 140°C for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, turning halfway.
- If the top darkens before the middle sets, lay a sheet of baking paper over it.
- Twenty minutes in the tin, then onto a rack.
- Brush with warmed apricot jam and cover with marzipan rolled just under 1cm thick.