Dundee Cake/ Light Fruit Cake/ Easy Dundee Fruit Cake

Dundee Cake

Somehow although I bake Dundee Cake every year, and given the recipe to many friends, I have never blogged about it.  This year I started the Christmas season by baking about 25 of these mini cakes for my daughters friends and teachers and gave them away.  Some of them were even put into suitcases and taken abroad by the recipients to share with their families. Dundee Cake has an interesting history and I googled many recipes before choosing one and using Apricot Jam instead of Marmalade. I roughly followed the recipe from https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dundee_cake_22157 So you can read the recipe for yourself.

Dundee Cake was born in the kitchens of Janet Keiller, who is known for developing the Marmalade we know today. Apparently the surplus Seville orange peel from the production of Keillers marmalade was used to flavour the cake, along with Spanish almonds and Spanish sultanas which were conveniently available from trade ships visiting Dundee’s thriving port from Spain, often laden with Sherry. The combination of these Spanish provisions and Scottish baking traditions created an enduringly popular cake, even Queen Elizabeth is said to be a fan.

Visit http://vagabondbaker.com/2016/04/18/traditional-dundee-cake/ for more about this interesting cake.

The Recipe:

350 gms salted butter; 175 gms brown sugar; 6 tbsp sugarless apricot jam; 6 large eggs, beaten; 450 gms self raising flour; 50 gms almond meal; 2 tsp tsp mixed spice powder ( I used 3 gms cinnamon , 2 gms cardamom, 2 gms nutmeg and 3 gms clove powder; 800 gms dried fruit ( tuiti fruiti, dark raisins, golden raisins, sultanas, crystallised ginger, cranberries, some candied peel, and black currants); 150 gms glacé cherries, quartered; 4 tbsp low fat milk ; 80gms blanched almonds to decorate;  2 tsp vanilla essence; 2 tsp coarse sugar, to sprinkle on top after baking.

Soak almonds in hot water for 20 minutes and then the skins come of easily.  Dry on a kitchen towel and keep aside till required. This is called blanching the almonds.

I chopped the required fruits a few days before and keep them in glass jars ready for use. This year my husband helped in the chopping. Baking Cakes is a family affair and everyone joins together to help and create memorable moments.

Preheat the oven to 150C/140C Fan/Gas 2. Grease and line small 5 inch foil round pans with baking paper.

Whisk the butter and  brown sugar for 5 minutes, or until pale, light and fluffy.  Add the marmalade and mix for a few seconds. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla essence and gently mix together.  Stir in the flour, almond meal  and spice powder.  Mix slowly until well combined and then stir in the mixed dried fruit and cherries with a large metal spoon. Add the low fat milk and mix until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the pans,  smooth the surface and arrange the blanched almonds in circles on top.  Bake for 45 minutes or until the skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.

Let the cake to cool for 15 minutes, unmould and cool on wire rack.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Can store this outside for about 5 days.

Some other Cakes you could bake are

Christmas is a time for joy and for giving and for sharing the birth of Christ.  It is a time of God showing His great love for mankind. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength.  Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.  This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a “Merry Christmas.” The joy and peace you will receive will last all year as you look to God for all your needs to be met.

Jesus Is the Reason for the Season! Rejoice!

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