This has to be the fruitiest fruit loaf ever-and it’s so simple to make!
I found this recipe on a UK site and was intrigued. It started out by making apple pulp, by cooking apples in a small volume of water until soft-basically making apple sauce. So, I thought, would it work if I just bought a jar of unsweetened applesauce from the supermarket? It was worth a go.
Oddly, although its a UK recipe and everything is in metric measures, the amount of apple pulp specified was 1/2 pint?! This would be an imperial pint, which is larger than a US pint, so I estimated that this would be approximately 280 ml, or roughly half of the jar that I had. To be honest, I think there’s a little wiggle room on the applesauce amounts, so I’ve been working on about half the jar (620 ml size) since, and it seems to work every time.
This has a serious amount of dried fruit in it, too, so it probably isn’t the most economical of cakes. It’s up to you what fruits to use. I’ve been using a mixture of the (rather expensive) dried cranberry/cherry/blueberry mixture that I discussed before (see Mixed Berry Tea Loaf), some additional dried cranberries and some sultana raisins, and it has worked very nicely. Mark really likes this one and is treating it like it is his ‘five-a-day’ in one slice-not sure that’s really accurate but it must be healthier than chocolate, isn’t it?
No need for mixing bowls, electric mixers, etc., just a largish saucepan, a wooden spoon or balloon whisk and a good 2 lb/900 g loaf pan. I finally replaced my old loaf pan, scratched and battered as it was, with a couple of brand-new non-stick pans (Amazon Basics) and couldn’t be happier with the results.
So far I haven’t had an issue with getting the cakes out of this tin, as long as I grease it well (I usually use some soft margarine for this).
Note, it’s a UK recipe so it uses self-raising flour and metric measurements. I have converted to oz measurements but the metric is more accurate. I have not tried to do cups!
| 340 g/12 oz self-raising flour |
| 170 g/6 oz caster sugar* (plus a little for the top of the cake) |
| 170 g/6 oz butter or margarine** |
| 340 g/12 oz mixed dried fruit *** |
| 2-3 tbsp milk |
| 280 ml (around ½ UK pint)/9 fl oz unsweetened applesauce (or homemade apple pulp) |
** I used unsalted butter
*** fruit of your preference. In my last bake I used a mixture of 140 g of the dried fruit mixture (cherries/blueberries/cranberries), an additional 100g of cranberries and 100 g of sultana raisins.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F/325˚F convection/180˚C/ 160˚C fan/Gas 4. I used 325˚F convection.
Grease (and line, if preferred) a 2 lb/900 g loaf tin and set aside.
Weigh out all of the ingredients-it will save time later.
Place the butter and sugar into a medium-large saucepan. Place on a medium heat and stir, until the butter and sugar have melted together but do not boil.
Remove from the heat.
Add ⅓ of the flour. Use a balloon whisk or a wooden spoon to combine.
Add half of the applesauce and whisk in.
Repeat with the flour and the applesauce until all is added. Finish with flour. It will look like a thick, gloopy batter. Add the milk to make a thick dropping consistency.
Fold in the fruit until well-combined. Transfer to the prepared tin and smooth off the top. If liked, sprinkle a little caster sugar over the top of the cake to give it a lightly crispy top when baked.
Bake, 45 minutes or so. The cake is done when a skewer comes out clean. Note that the original recipe gave a baking time of 1 h 30 minutes (!), but that is far too long. I look at mine from around the 40-45 minute mark and that works well.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Slide a plastic spatula around the edges of the cake to loosen, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
The cake keeps very well at room temperature in an air-tight container. It’s highly recommended for a very fruity cake with very little fuss. It might work nicely with a little mixed spice, cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix added, too, but we like the simple fruitiness of the original iteration, and no need to pulp your own apples, either!
The Pudding Queen 