Easter Fruit Loaf
Preparation 30 Minutes
Cook 45 Minutes
Serves 8-10
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
Dough:
- 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.
- 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.
- Roll into a loaf, place on a greased paper lined oven tray and set aside for 15 minutes to allow dough to rise.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. When cool, ice and sprinkle with toasted flaked almonds.
Icing:
- 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
Zucchini Salad
Cut the zucchini into long, thin ribbons using a mandolin or vegetable peeler.
Whisk together lemon juice and olive oil, season. Pour over the zucchini, gently toss to combine then allow to sit for 10 mins to marinate.
Drain zucchini and arrange on a serving platter. Sprinkle over pine nuts, sultanas, raisins and feta. Scatter over mint leaves just before serving.
Toasted Almond & Blueberry Salad
- Toast almonds in a pan on medium heat then set aside.
- Wash berries and slice strawberries into halves.
- Crumble blue cheese and combine salad ingredients together.
- Combine dressing ingredients and blend until smooth, pour over salad when serving.
Chocolate Hazelnut Pudding
- Place raisins, sultanas and rum in a bowl and set to one side.
- Cream butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Sift flour, mixed spice and cinnamon. Add breadcrumbs, hazelnuts, chocolate, buttermilk, rum soaked fruit and butter mixture and mix well to combine.
- Spray 1.7L pudding bowl with oil and line base with baking paper. Spoon mixture into bowl and top with baking paper round and lid. Place a wire rack onto the base of a large saucepan, fill with water and bring to the boil. Carefully place pudding onto rack making sure the water comes about halfway up the basin. Cover and simmer for 3 hours, topping up water when needed.
- Remove from saucepan; stand for 10 minutes, before turning out.
Tip: This pudding can also be cooked in the microwave. Ensure your pudding bowl is microwave safe, cook in microwave on defrost setting for 30 minutes, check if a skewer inserted into pudding comes out clean. If not cooked, microwave at 5 minute intervals, until skewer comes out clean. Stand for 10 minutes before turning out.
Frozen Christmas Pudding
Combine sugar with 250ml water in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase heat to high and boil for 1 minute.Remove from heat, add sultanas and cranberries and allow to sit for 10 mins. Drain and set aside to cool.
Use muslin to line the inside of a 1.75L capacity pudding basin.
Meanwhile, spoon icecream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment. Allow to soften slightly before beating until smooth.Add cooled fruit mixture, vanilla, cinnamon, pistachios and brandy and beat until just incorporated. Spoon into the prepared basin, smooth the surface, cover with the lid (or plastic wrap) and freeze overnight or until firm.
Turn out onto a serving plate, top with fresh berries and shower with icing sugar to serve.
You will need a 1.75L pudding basin and muslin for this recipe
You will need to begin this recipe the night before
Christmas Casata
Soften 2 litres vanilla ice cream by leaving out of the freezer for 15 minutes while you chop, glacé cherries & Allens Raspberries.
Toast the slithered almonds in a dry pan till slightly brown, set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl add softened ice cream, start by stirring in the frozen raspberries to give ice cream raspberry ripples and colour. Then add all the remaining ingredients and stir till combined.
Choose a mould or tin to set the ice cream in and freeze for a minimum 4 hours to set.
Serve frozen.
Pumpkin Macadamia Salad
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- Place pumpkin and onion in large baking dish, add 2 tablespoons of oil and mix to coat. Roast or grill until tender (approx 30 minutes), turning once. Cool, and then gently mix with rocket, macadamias and raisins.
- Combine lemon juice, honey, ginger and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in screw top jar. Shake and pour over salad. Gently toss to combine.
