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My husband loves fruitcake in all forms – heavy and dense, light and fluffy, dry and crumbly, with exotic dried fruit or just with currants, with nuts or without, egg-free or eggful, fancy or homely, buzzing with alcohol or completely teetotal… you name it, he’ll eat it. Of course it goes without saying that he prefers fruitcake that's well-made to one that's second-rate... but in a pinch he'll eat the second-rate one too. In general he can be as nutty as a – pardon me for this – fruitcake when it comes to this variety of cake. Me, on the other hand… I can take fruitcake or leave it. It’s marginally more “take it” if it’s got nuts in it that cut the sweetness of all the dried fruit, so I usually add some to most fruitcakes I make.
And because Pete mostly doesn’t mind how his fruitcake turns out, as long as it’s not turned to coal, I feel free to experiment without worrying about “what ifs” like “what if the cake’s heavy like a brick”, or “what if it’s so crumbly that you choke on fruitcake dust”, and so on. (I’ve even made fruitcake with dark chocolate that needs to see the light of day at some point.)
Anyway, this cake combines the best of what Pete likes (dried fruit) with the best of what I like (banana) with some dried sour cherries (bought in the YewYessYay, naturally) thrown in for that “exotic” touch. The addition of mashed overripe bananas was a touch of genius if I do say so myself, because the flavour it gave the fruitcake – helped by the addition of cardamom powder – was luvverly. It was almost like an Indian fruitcake, if there is such a thing. If there isn’t, there is now.
The cake keeps well and stays moist at room temperature (under cover, that is, not left open to the elements) for at least a week that I can vouch for. We both think it tastes gorgeous too – let me put it this way, we’re all three made for each other because if he’s nutty about banana fruitcake, I’m bananas about nutty fruitcake, and the fruitcake is bananas and nuts anyway. See what I mean?
Recipe for: Banana almond fruitcake
Ingredients:
2 medium overripe bananas, mashed well
1-1/2 cups plain flour or wholewheat cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups dried fruit (I used currants, dried sour cherries, chopped mixed citrus peel)
1/4 cup almond slivers
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk (or as needed)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp baking powder
Method:
1. Sift the flour and spices together with the Splenda, sugar and salt. 2. Add the dried fruit
and the dried cherries, mix them into the flour.
3. Make a well in the flour-fruit mix, then add the almond slivers and the mashed banana.
Mix again.
4. Add milk little by little, mixing as you go.
The batter should be thick. It is the correct consistency when it drips slowly off the back of a spoon. Mix in more milk if it's too thick, to get it to the right consistency,
5. Pour the batter into an 8" square or round pan sprayed with Pam or greased with butter.
Bake at 180C for about an hour, or till the cake tests done. Start checking at the 45-minute mark as different ovens work differently. 6. Remove the cake tin from the oven, and let the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes.
7. Unmould the cake onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. This cake stays good at room temperature for a few days.
RECIPE: EGGLESS BANANA ALMOND FRUITCAKE
Ingredients:
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1-1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups dried fruit (currants, dried sour cherries, chopped mixed citrus peel)
1/4 cup almond slivers
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk (or as needed)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Method:
1. Sift the flour and spices together with the Splenda, sugar and salt.
2. Add the dried fruit and the dried cherries, mix them into the flour.
3. Make a well in the flour-fruit mix, then add the almond slivers and the mashed banana. Mix again.
4. Add milk little by little, mixing as you go. The batter should be thick. It is the correct consistency when it drips slowly off the back of a spoon. Mix in more milk if it's too thick, to get it to the right consistency,
5. Pour the batter into an 8" square or round pan sprayed with Pam or greased well with butter. Bake at 180C for about an hour, or till the cake tests done. Start checking at the 45-minute mark as different ovens work differently.
6. Remove the cake tin from the oven, and let the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes.
7. Unmould the cake onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. This cake stays good at room temperature for a few days.
Anybody remember the powering-up war-cry of He-Man (of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fame) – “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ve got the POWER!”? Well, if this cake had a voice – and the exaggerated V-shaped over-muscular animated cartoon body of He-Man - that’s what it would be shouting – “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ve got the POWERRRRR!”. And it would be right, it’s got dried goji berries, blueberries, cranberries, sour cherries and currants, not to mention almonds, and if that doesn’t make a powerful cake, I don’t know what does.
Recipe for: Power fruit cake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 cups mixed fruit (I used cranberries, goji berries, blueberries, dried sour cherries and currants)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (or other chopped nuts of choice)
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp clove powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 pint milk
1 cup glace cherries washed of excess syrup and dried on kitchen paper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup self-raising flour
1 tsp soda bicarb
Method:
1. Place the sugar, butter, fruit, spices and milk in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Boil for a minute or two, then switch off the heat and let the mixture cool. It might look curdled as it cools, but dont worry, all will be well.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C.
3. Add the nuts to the fruit mixture and stir,
then add the beaten eggs and mix well.
4. Add the flour and fold through the mix. The batter will be quite thick.
6. Place the mixture in a greased, deep square 8" cake tin.
Bake for about 1 hour, checking that the cake isnt burning on the top, after about 30 minutes. If it looks like browning too quickly, cover the top with brown paper.
7. The cake might need more than an hour to cook, or less, depending on the sort of oven you have. After 40 minutes, check the cake with a skewer to see if it's cooked. If not, check every 7 minutes until the tester comes out clean.
8. Cool in the cake tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
I was inspired to make suji halwa when I saw Atabela's recipe for it. It seemed like such a good idea and a nice change from the usual suji halwa. A small bag of unsweetened dried berries was begging to be used, so the decision was made.
I also added some traditional sultanas and cashewnuts to the halwa, although I guess most nuts (maybe not peanuts, though) would taste just as good. Oh, and the only calories in it come from the ghee, because I used Splenda instead of sugar. There's just no way to compromise on the ghee, unfortunately, because of the flavour and aroma it imparts.
Clockwise from bottom right: Mixed dried berries (cranberries, strawberries, sour cherries and sultanas), cashewnuts, cardamom, ghee, Splenda and suji.
Suji halwa is a quick, fuss-free sweet to make - it's also homey and sort of soothing. Or maybe that's because I associate it with memories of home.
This halwa is nicest eaten hot (the microwave comes in handy here, if you're not eating it fresh). I didnt make mine the usual formless mass of halwa - I spread it on a lightly greased plate straight from the cooking pan, and cut it into squares. The berries looked like little jewels studding the little squares of halwa. They looked pretty and were the perfect size to satisfy my undemanding sweet tooth, one square at a time. And did I say they looked pretty?
Recipe for: Suji halwa with dried berries
Ingredients:
1 cup suji
3/4 cup sugar or Splenda
1/4 cup ghee
3/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/3 cup mixed dried berries and sultanas
2 cups water
Method:
1. Heat 1 tsp of the ghee in a small pan and fry the berries and nuts until the nuts turn golden. Remove from the hot pan (to stop them browning further) and reserve.
2. Melt the remaining ghee in a wide pan.
3. Add the suji to the ghee and roast it on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the suji starts to turn a darker colour (about 10 minutes) and gives off a nice roasting aroma.
4. The suji is done when it becomes wet-looking and the ghee begins to separate from the mixture.
5. Now is the time to add the berries and nuts, and the sugar. Stir it all into the roasted suji mix.
6. Add the cardamom powder and two cups water to the pan and stir well and frequently, making sure there are no lumps.
7. Keep stirring until the suji absorbs the water and the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. At this point, stirring will be difficult as the halwa will have become a soft mass. Turn off the heat. The halwa can be served rightaway in cups.
8. If you want to make serving pieces like I did, spread the hot halwa on a lightly greased flat plate, patting it down quickly and carefully with a wetted palm. Cut into pieces when it has cooled a little.
The halwa stays good for 2 days, and can be re-heated in the microwave prior to serving.
