No added sugar tea loaf cake

Vegan Christmas Cake - C is for...Cake

Vegan Christmas Cake

I can't believe it has taken me three days of my countdown to Christmas to give you a recipe but it's been worth the wait as it's for a cake! It seems that the traditional Christmas cake as we know it today made with lots of dried fruit and spices has its origins in the 16^th Century. Back then a fruit cake was made for Twelfth Night but since Victorian times it has been made especially for Christmas Day. Of course nowadays you can start buying Christmas cakes in the supermarkets at the end of August. I usually make my Christmas cake at the end of October and then feed it regularly until a couple of days before Christmas so I can marzipan and ice it.

A traditional Christmas Cake is very rich and takes over four hours to cook. The size of it can also put people off and not everyone now like a fruit cake. This is my solution to this problem. As the title suggests it is vegan plus has no extra fat or sugar added and also no alcohol. To add to this cake's halo I've also made it with wholemeal flour. I originally made for my Clandestine Cake Club's 'Noel Novelty' meeting where it went down so well I got asked for the recipe. The multi-coloured glacé cherries can be tricky to get hold of as the supermarkets don't seem to sell them anymore. I found mine at the fruit & nut stall in Sheffield Market (along with the dates) and later the same week spotted them at a fruit and nut concession in Boundary Mills. Of course just the standard red ones would still work a treat. 

Click here for a printable recipe. 

Equipment: 1 large bowl, 2lb (900g) loaf tin

Ingredients

1lb (450g) Mixed dried fruit, including candied peel

4oz (110g) Dried dates, chopped

2½oz (75g) Dried apricots, chopped

1½ (45g) Glacé cherries, washed, dried and quartered

¼ pint (150ml) Strong tea

Juice and zest of 1 Orange

6oz (170g) Self-raising wholemeal flour

1tsp (5ml) Baking powder

2oz (55g) Ground almonds

1tsp (5ml) Mixed spice

¼ pint (150ml) Cold water

Decoration

1tbsp (15ml) Apricot jam

Glacé cherries in mixed colours, alternatively you could stick to red glacé cherries and mix them with some pecans, whole almonds and walnuts. You could also make up some runny icing sugar and drizzle it over the top.

Method

1. Put all the dried fruit in a large bowl. Add the tea and the orange juice and zest. Mix well, cover and leave for at least 8 hours to soak.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

3. Grease and line the loaf tin (I use loaf tin liners)

4. Add the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and mixed spice to the fruit mixture and stir until well combined. It will be quite dry.

5. Add the water and mix in until it becomes moist.

6. Put it into the prepared tin and level the top.

7. Bake for 1 hour and then cover and cook for another 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

8. Leave the cake to cool for a few minutes in the tin before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

9. When cool heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan until warm and then brush along the top.

10. Decorate with your choice of cherries, dried fruits or nuts.

Malt Loaf - New Year but no excesses

Malt Loaf with some juicy sultanas

Once January hit us there are all sort of plans for improving one's lifestyle. Out of the all the resolutions the most popular must be to lose weight and to get fit. After the excesses of Christmas, not to mention the tins of chocolates and boxes of chocolates still lying about, it can be hard to give up on the sweet things to eat. For most people resolutions rarely don't make it through January. The combination of the cold weather, still short days and the feeling of little to look forward doesn't make for a great motivator. What you need is something like a cake but without the guilty fat feeling. For this the number one candidate is malt loaf.

Malt loaf remains a quintessentially British food. Many people state its origins to be in northern England however a patent for it was filed by a Scotsman in 1890. Ironically, the company best known for producing it commercially is based in Manchester, but is named after the Danish Sorensen family who once owned the company.

In recent years malt loaf has regained its popularity as a snack foods amongst athletes, particularly cyclists and runners. The low-fat, carbohydrate high nature of it gives a welcome energy boost during endurance events. If though you are not of such a sporty nature then a slice of malt loaf goes down well with a cup of tea at any time of day. Opinion is divided whether one should eat it plain or spread with butter. I have also read people eulogizing about how good malt loaf is if toasted or fried in butter. Personally, I am an au naturel girl but I'll leave it to you to experiment and decide how you like it best.

Malt Loaf

Makes 2 x 1lb (450g) loaves. The second loaf can be frozen if necessary. For reasons of ease and quickness I use loaf liners for the tins. The recipe needs cold tea so remember make that first! I use what is left over in the pot from my morning tea.

Click here for a printable recipe. 

Equipment:2 x 1lb (450g) loaf tins, baking parchment (this will need to be greased) or loaf tin liners, mixing bowl, large saucepan

Ingredients

8oz (225g) Plain flour

½ tsp (2.5ml) Bicarbonate of soda

1tsp (5ml) Baking powder

8oz (225g) Sultanas

2oz (55g) Demerara sugar

6oz (170g) Malt extract

1tbsp (15ml) Black treacle

2 Large, free-range eggs, beaten

¼ pint (150ml) Cold tea (no milk or sugar added!)

Method

1. Get the two tins prepared by either lining them with greased baking parchment or pop in the loaf tin liners. 
2. Let the oven get up to temperature by pre-heating to 150°C/Gas mark 2.

3. In the mixing bowl weigh the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.

4. Add the sultanas and then stir together.

5. In the large saucepan put the sugar, malt extract and black treacle and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.

6. Take the saucepan off the heat and pour onto the dry ingredients. Add the beaten eggs and the tea.

7. The mixture needs to be well beaten until smooth.

8. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the prepared tins.

9. The loaves will need about 1 hour in the oven or until well risen and firm to the touch.

10.Once the loaves are cooked let them cool for 10 minutes in the tins then turn out on to a wire rack to let them cool completely.

11. The texture of the malt loaves means they are best left for 2 days before eating, however this can prove to be very difficult!