Golden Fruit Cake

Preparation 30MINS + 5-7 DAYS SOAKING TIME

Cook 3 – 3 1/2 HRS

Serves 20

Method

Combine fruit and 1/2 cup of brandy in a large bowl. Cover and store in a cool, dark place for 5-7 days, stirring each day.

Preheat oven to 150°C and grease a 22cm round deep cake tin. Line with three layers of brown paper, extending papers 5cm above rim

  1. Stir slivered almonds, pineapple and grated apple into fruit mixture. Set aside
  2. Beat butter, caster sugar and brown sugar together until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add to fruit mixture and mix well.
  3. Stir sifted dry ingredients through the wet mix. Spread evenly into pan. Tap pan several times on bench to settle the mixture.
  4. Decorate with blanched almonds. Bake for 3-3 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  5. Leave hot cake in the tin and wrap in foil, then a thick tea towel to cool overnight.

HINT: FOR AN EXTRA MOIST CAKE, PIERCE THE TOP OF THE CAKE ALL OVER WITH A FINE SKEWER AND SPOON A LITTLE EXTRA BRANDY OVER, BEFORE COOLING.

Ingredients

1kg Sunbeam Mixed Fruit

125g Sunbeam Raisins

125g Sunbeam Currants

1 cup Sunbeam Slivered Almonds

1 cup brandy

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1 small Granny Smith Apple, grated

250g butter, softened

1/2 cup caster sugar

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp mixed spice

120g Sunbeam Blanched Almonds (to decorate)

Recipe Collection

Apricot Balls

  1. Place apricots, sultanas and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes.
  2. Place cooled fruit in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add oats and coconut. Remove to a bowl and roll teaspoonsful into balls and then roll in sesame seeds to coat. Refrigerate until required.

Notes:
Balls can also be rolled in coconut, chopped pepitas or chopped nuts.

Beef & Apricot Tagine

1. Heat half of the oil in a large frying pan, add onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender. Add spices and cook a further minute until fragrant. Add to the pot of a slow cooker.

2. Using the remaining oil, sear beef in batches until well browned. Add to the slow cooker with the stock, tomatoes, cinnamon and orange peel. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.

3. Add the apricots and chickpeas in the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Season well. Serve beef with almonds and coriander and accompany with rice and yoghurt.

*For a faster cooking time, cook on High heat for 4 hours.

Walnut & Sultana Monkey Bread

Prepare the dough: The dough comes together with a mixer. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. You can simply continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand.

Let the dough rise: The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment.

Punch down the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air.

Shape & coat dough balls: Pull off little pieces of dough and roll into balls. Dunk the balls into melted butter, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Little bakers love to help out with this step! Good thing to note: the heavier the cinnamon-sugar coating, the more these little monkey bread bites will taste like gooey cinnamon rolls.

Let the shaped monkey bread rest for 20 minutes: Arrange the coated balls in a flat oven proof pan or a cast iron pan, cover lightly, then set aside to rest as you preheat the oven. The balls will slightly rise during this time.

Top with buttery brown sugar sauce: Before baking the monkey bread, mix melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together. Stir in the nuts. Pour any remaining sauce sauce all over the dough balls.

Bake:

Bake until the top is lightly browned, about 40 minutes.

Invert onto serving plate: Allow the monkey bread to cool for 5-10 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate.

Drizzle with vanilla icing: Whisk confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Drizzle all over the warm monkey bread. Top with extra nuts

Caramel Walnut Brioche Pudding

Butter both sides of sliced Brioche and layer in greased pan (mine is 8” x 11”).

2.     Sprinkle dried Mixed fruit and Walnuts evenly over bread.

3.     Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla paste until sugar is dissolved,then mix together with Cream and Milk.

4.     Pour egg mix over Brioche and let soak whilst you make your caramel.

5.     In heavy based pan add butter, golden syrup and condensed milk, stir until all melted on low heat. This can then be spooned over Brioche into all gaps, finish by sprinkling more Walnuts and Cinnamon.

6.     Place in oven 165’c fan forced for 35-45 minutes, or until centre is set.

7.     Enjoy

# You may like to soak Mixed Fruit in a little Brandy!

Golden Fruit Cake

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. In a large bowl add Sunbeam Almond Meal, sugar the butter and egg and combine until a breadcrumb texture. Spoon into a greased 23cm (base measurement) fluted loose base tart tin. Press mixture to line the base and sides of the tin. Making sure you have made even base and sides, the palm of your hand for the base. Freeze for 15 minutes. Place the tart shell on a baking tray and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.

Pistachio & Fruit Cheesecake

  1. Cover Angas Park Apricots in 100ml maple syrup & 50ml water in bowl. Cover Angas Park Fruit Medley in 150ml of maple syrup and 50ml water in another bowl. Set both aside to soak.
  2. In a food processor blend almonds and almond meal until fine crumb. Mix almond crumb with melted butter, press into bottom of cake tin. Preheat oven to 180ºC & bake 15 min.
  3. Mix room temperature cream cheese until fluffy. Dissolve gelatine powder in boiling water. Add gelatine, condensed milk, melted white chocolate to cream cheese & combine until smooth.
  4. Fold well-drained fruit medley into cake mix then pour over cooled almond base in springform cake tin. Refrigerate until set (Approx. 6 hours).
  5. Remove cheesecake from tin and serve with drained apricots and chopped pistachios for garnish.

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