Recipe from the archives: Fig and ginger Christmas cake
Here's a Christmas cake from our archives which has a bit of a delicious twist: figs and crystallised ginger.
We haven't tried this one in recent times, so let us know what it's like. Sounds good anyway...
INGREDIENTS
450 grams chopped raisins
200 grams sultanas
100 grams chopped figs
100 grams crystallised ginger, sliced
100 grams mixed peel, sliced
450 grams currants
100 grams cherries, halved
100 grams dates, chopped
100 grams nuts, toasted
250 grams butter
250 grams brown sugar
Half a tsp almond essence
2 tsp orange rind, grated
6 eggs
300 grams flour
Quarter of a tsp baking soda
2 tsp cocoa
Half tsp cinnamon
Half tspn nutmeg
Half tspn cloves
4 tblsp orange juice
125 grams dark jelly or jam
METHOD
Preheat oven to 125C; line a cake tin (20cm square or 22cm round) with greaseproof paper on the insdie and brown paper on the outside.
Prepare the fruit and combine well. Cream the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Add the essence and orange rind; beat well.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
Sift dry ingredients together. Mix the fruit and dry ingredients together, ensuring that all the fruit is well coated with the flour; gradually add the fruit to the creamed mixture.
Add the orange juice and jam and mix well.
Pack the mixture into the tin; spread the mixture so that it is of even depth and level in the tin.
Bake in a slow oven for 4 and a half to 5 hours; (halfway through the cooking, cover the top fo the cake with foil to avoid overbrowning); the cake is cooked when a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Merry Xmas from the Rotoroa team!