Last bite recipe

Rum-soaked fruit and almond cake

1 HOUR 30 MINUTES + SOAKING + COOLING | SERVES 10 | EASY

A fruit cake with no fuss. Make it now or save the recipe to whip-up a quick Christmas cake.

sultanas 100g raisins 100g dark glacé cherries 50g, chopped crystallised ginger 50g, chopped

dark rum 4 tbsp butter 200g, softened, plus more for the tin light muscovado sugar 200g eggs 3, beaten

black treacle 1 tbsp

self-raising flour 220g

mixed spice 2 tsp

ground ginger 1 tsp

baking powder 1 tsp

apples 2 small, peeled and grated ALMOND BUTTERCREAM

salted butter 185g, at room temperature icing sugar 300g

almond extract 1 tsp

• Tip the dried fruits, ginger and rum into a bowl and leave to soak for a couple of hours or overnight, if you like. Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the bottom of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with baking paper. Beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle, self-raising flour, mixed spice, ground ginger and baking powder with electric beaters, until thick. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the apples, soaked dried fruit and any soaking liquid.

• Spoon the batter into the tin, level the top and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until dark golden, springy to the touch and it’s slightly shrunk away from the sides of the tin. A skewer pushed into the centre will come out clean when it’s ready. Cool, wrap in baking paper and put in an airtight container. Will keep for a week before icing, or it can be frozen. Defrost overnight at room temperature before decorating.

• To make the buttercream, put the butter into a bowl and gradually beat in the icing sugar and almond extract using electric beaters until fluffy. Spread all over the cake using a spatula.

PER SERVING 706 KCALS | FAT 33.7G SATURATES 20.6G | CARBS 91G | SUGARS 69.9G FIBRE 1.8G | PROTEIN 5.2G | SALT 1.1G