Fruit and Brandy Pound Cake
I saw this on ABC’s “The cook and the chef” the other night and was inspired to make one too.
A traditional pound cake uses a pound of each ingredient (flour, butter, eggs and sugar) and there are many added flavour variations of the recipe.
I had some left over dried fruit from my hot cross bun making at Easter time so I decided to make a fruit pound cake. It turned out with a delicious moist golden crumb with a hint of fruit and brandy, perfect with your mid morning cup of tea.
This is a smaller version of a pound cake, as, frankly, I don’t have a small army to feed 4 pounds of cake to. This cake will produce 4-6 serves but you can double the recipe for a larger cake.
INGREDIENTS
100 grams dried mixed fruit
100 grams of softened butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
100 grams white sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon of baking powder
100 grams plain flour
METHOD
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius. Prepare a small cake or loaf tin grease and line with paper.
Soak fruit in some boiling water for 10 minutes and drain.
Beat butter and vanilla until fluffy and slowly add the sugar. Beat for another 5 minutes on high speed until pale and thick.
Stir in eggs and brandy to the butter mixture until just combined.
Sift flour and baking powder together and fold into butter mixture. Gently mix in the fruit until just combined.
Pour into prepared tin, smooth over the top and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool and slice.
This can be stored in an airtight container for about 5 days.