Easter Fruit Loaf

Preparation 30 Minutes

Cook 45 Minutes

Serves 8-10

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Method

Preheat oven to 180°C

Dough:

  1. Sift self raising flour, bi-carb soda, mixed spice and castor sugar into a large bowl. Pour in buttermilk and mix with a butter knife to combine. Tip onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Roll out to a 40cm x 30cm rectangle.
  2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Thinly spread creamed butter mix over dough and sprinkle evenly with almond meal. Combine all the fruit in a small bowl and spread on top of the almond meal.
  3. Roll into a loaf, place on a greased paper lined oven tray and set aside for 15 minutes to allow dough to rise.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. When cool, ice and sprinkle with toasted flaked almonds.

Icing:

  1. Combine sifted icing sugar with boiling water.

Ingredients

Fruit and Nut Filling:

90g butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp vanilla essence

110g Sunbeam Ground Almonds

100g Sunbeam Sultanas

50g Sunbeam Currants

70g Sunbeam Glace Cherries, chopped

50g Sunbeam Apricots, diced

40g Angus Park Cranberries

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Buttermilk Dough:

2 ½ cups self raising flour

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1 tsp mixed spice

¼ cup castor sugar

350ml buttermilk

Topping

1 cup pure icing sugar

3 tbs boiling water

40g Sunbeam Flaked Almonds, toasted

Recipe Collection

Festive Rumballs

  1. Place biscuits, walnuts and sultanas in a food processor, pulsing until fine crumbs have formed. Add coconut, condensed milk and cinnamon. Continue pulsing until mixture has come together. Remove to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
  2. Roll teaspoons of chilled mixture into balls whilst enclosing half a cherry or walnut inside. Toss in extra coconut or finely chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until required.

Baked Spiced Cauliflower Salad

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Trim cauliflower, cut into florets and place in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Combine seeds and spices with the oil and pour over cauliflower. Mix well with your hands to ensure even coating. Tip into a single layer on a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes or until golden and tender. Set aside to cool.
  3. Whisk together the oil, vinegar and maple. Place cauliflower onto a serving platter and toss gently with the spinach leaves. Sprinkle with feta and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Cherry Ripe Slice

Line 27 x 18cm slice tray with baking paper, leaving 2cm of paper above edge to make removal of slice easier. Put biscuits in a bag and crush well. Combine biscuits and butter and press into base of prepared tray. Refrigerate for 20min till firm.

Combine coconut and icing sugar mixture in a bowl. Put white chocolate extra butter and cream in a small pan and cook gently over low heat. Stir frequently until chocolate has melted. Stir in food colouring.

Gently stir white chocolate mixture into coconut mixture, add cherries spread firmly on biscuit base, chill for 30min or until firm. Spread dark over the slice, refrigerate until firm, cut into squares to serve.

Spiced Lamb in Lettuce Cups

  1. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and garlic, cooking for several minutes until tender. Add spices, cooking a further minute. Increase heat and add lamb mince, cooking until well browned.
  2. Add dates, pomegranate molasses, herbs and pinenuts. Mix well and season to taste.
  3. Spoon mixture between prepared lettuce cups. Drizzle with yoghurt and lemon juice, finishing with additional mint leaves.

Chocolate Fruit Truffles

  1. Add chocolate to a food processor and blitz until very finely chopped.
  2. Transfer chocolate to a bowl, pour over the hot thickened cream, add butter, currants and salt and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm but still able to be scooped with a spoon.
  3. To make truffles, scoop 1 heaped tbsp of the mixture and use clean hands to roll into a rough ball. Repeat with remaining mixture (you should make about 24)
  4. Arrange crushed nuts, desiccated coconut and cacao powder in separate bowls. Roll each of the truffles into different coatings to decorate.*to make coloured coconut we combined desiccated coconut with a few drops of food colouring

Festive Fruit Cake

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm springform cake pan.

Mix nuts, dried fruits, glace cherries, peel in a bowl. Sift in flour, baking powder then stir in sugar. Lightly whisk eggs with vanilla, then stir into the cake mixture until well combined. Pour into pan. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack over a plate and remove baking paper. Pierce all over with a skewer. Drizzle with brandy, then wrap tightly in foil and leave in a cool, dry place for 2-3 days to mature.

For the topping: Soak fruit in Maple syrup, add boiling water to cover and let soften. Closer to serving, warm jam in a pan over low heat or in the microwave until runny. Arrange the maple-soaked fruits over the top of the cake in a decorative pattern, then brush with warm jam to set in place.
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