Saturday, December 22, 2007 - WEEKEND COOKBOOK CHALLENGE #23
I wanted to do something a little different for my Celebration Dish for this month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge. If you read my post about Ms. Lawson, you won’t be too surprised that I choose something from her cookbook “Feast”.
I watched her make this on the Food Network and it was soo good, I was able to tear my eyes off of her and watch the cooking.
Chocolate Fruit Cake
12 1/4 ounces (350 grams) dried soft prunes, chopped
8 3/4 ounces (250 grams) raisins
4 1/2 ounces(125 grams) currants
6 1/4 ounces (175 grams) unsalted butter, softened
6 1/4 (175 grams) dark muscovado (I used brown) sugar
6 1/4 fluid ounces (175 ml) honey
4 1/2 fluid ounces (125 ml) coffee liqueur
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon mixed spice (What is “mixed spice”? I used ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. mace, ¼ tsp. nutmeg)
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa
3 free-range eggs, beaten
5 1/4 ounces (150 grams) plain flour
2 1/2 ounces (75 grams) ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
(OK, I rounded all 1/4 ‘s to the nearest whole. If it was 6 ¼ , it became 6. 8 ¾ became 9, etc.)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Line the sides and bottom of an 8 by 3 1/2-inch deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange zest and juice, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and baking soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.
Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle.
Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin. Nigella fills the sunken center with chocolate covered coffee beans. I didn't have any of those, so I used chopped dates and covered the cake in a snow of powdered sugar.
Oh, baby – this was good! It wasn’t nearly as sweet as I thought it would be, but it was sensuous. I might love Nigella even more, now!
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