Sticky date cake
Somewhere between a Christmas cake and a sticky toffee pudding!
Ingredients
- 225 g/8oz chopped dried dates
- 175 g/6oz sultanas
- 110 g/4oz raisins
- 110 g/4oz currants
- 27 g/10oz margarine
- 275 ml/½pt water
- 1 tin condensed milk a vegan version is available
- 150 g/5oz plain flour
- 150 g/5oz wholemeal flour
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 generous tbsp chunky marmalade
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Grease & line a 20cm/8-inch square cake tin
- Place all of the dried fruit in a large saucepan together with the margarine, water and condensed milk and bring to the boil
- Stir frequently to avoid sticking
- Simmer the mixture for exactly 3 minutes and stir occasionally
- Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for half an hour
- While it's cooling, weigh the flours and sift them into a bowl together with the salt and bicarbonate of soda. (When sieving wholemeal flour, you often find small quantities of bran left in the sieve; these can be tipped on to the already sieved flour)
- When the mixture has cooled stir in the flour mix and add a good round tablespoon of marmalade
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 2½-3 hours. (Take a look at the cake about ¾ of the way through the baking time and, if the top looks a bit dark, cover it with a double square of greaseproof paper to prevent further browning)
- After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack
This is quite a large cake which will keep well for several weeks in an airtight tin
