So after 2 weeks of Juneathon I reckon its time for a reward. CAKE!!!!!!!
Keeping to the spirit of Juneathon, this cake is great for a pre-run breakfast, and also great for carb loading. The fruit is good for slow energy release, the soft brown sugar is better than white for the same reason.
Earl Grey Tea Fruit Loaf
Ingredients
225g dried mixed fruit
300ml tepid Earl Grey
250g self-raising flour
200g soft light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Method
1. Pop the dried fruit and tea in a large bowl, cover with a clean cloth and leave to soak overnight, until the fruit is plump and juicy- it won’t soak up all of the tea though!
2. The next day, preheat the oven to 175C/375F/Gas 3 and grease and line a large (2lb) loaf tin.
3. Add the flour, sugar, egg and spices to the bowl with the fruit and mix well.
4. Pop the mixture in the loaf tin and bake for 75 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
5. Remove the cake from the tin, remove the greaseproof paper, and leave it to cool covered with a cloth (so the outside stays moist).
We’ve found its best cut into thick slices (like 2cm thick!) and then into fingers. Only bad part is you have to remember to put the fruit to soak overnight, and then wait 75 mins whilst it bakes! It also freezes fantastically well. Simply slice the whole loaf up, and freeze it in slices. Ideal to just take a couple of slices out the day before (and it stops you eating the whole loaf in one go!)
Notes!
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I found a lovely dried fruit mix at Sainsburys – as well as raisins, sultanas etc it has cranberries and apricots in – extra yummy.
Original recipe had 1 tsp each of the spices, but I thought it was too strong so cut it down to 1/2. My husband said it was fine with the whole amount, but I bake the stuff so I’ll make it how I like
I can’t take credit for the original recipe, which came from Goldilocks Running blog.Thank you!
Now before you all go off to make cake, I should report that I did actually run today as well. 4 miles in total, a mile warm up, 2 miles fast(er), and a mile cool down.