No 10 - Ngaire Clarke's Easy Fruit Cake

Ngaire Clarke’s Easy Fruit Cake

Ngaire (or her husband) was some distant cousin of my maternal grandmother.  When I left home aged 16 and started work in the NZ Forest Service, Ngaire and Roy were people I could call on in the nearest town to our forestry camp.  Roy regaled me with takes of his days as an engineer working on hydro-electric dam construction and Ngaire fed me tea and cake.

This one is a beauty, best eaten really fresh.  Loved, it was recently adopted by one of my French colleagues who tells me that the  French don’t have a tradition of heavy fruit cakes, but that she would tell her family this was an English Xmas cake and they’d love it too.

‘Shame to mislead them like that but if an essentially English style cake makes a hit in France, then “good ol’ Ngaire” I say.

Easy Fruit Cake

1 lb (450-500 gms) mixed dried fruit
8 oz (225 gms)butter
3 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each of mixed spicve and cinnamon

Prepare a 9 inch (23cm) cake baking tin.

Boil 1 lb of mixed dried fruit in enough water to cover for 15 minutes.

Drain and chop in 8 oz butter

Beat together 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cups  sugar until fluffy.

Add the egg mix to the fruit with 2 cups flour,  2 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp ground mixed spice and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Bake at 170C (160C fan oven) for 1.25 to 1.5 hours  (9" tin)