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The ‘Evolution’ Christmas cake

The ‘Evolution’ Christmas cake

Posted by Marie-Eve Maitland on 21st Dec 2016

Not enough people make their own cakes, puddings and sweet treats for Christmas, and yet there’s nothing more satisfying than the creativity of home baking. Especially if you’re going the extra mile of caring about the provenance of your ingredients.

Whereas a shop bought cake, and don’t be fooled by upmarket branding, contains zero health benefits, our Evolution (because it’s been invented by us) Christmas cake will actually benefit your body in terms of nutrition – with what it doesn’t contain, being as important as what it does contain.

Read on, it really is as simple as that, Christmas does not need to be the unhealthiest time of year!

I just love the combination of vanilla, orange and cinnamon in recipes and this Christmas cake is the perfect recipe to marry these flavours together.

Ingredients 

  • 140g sultanas
  • 4 tablespoon brandy 
  • 250g organic, grass fed butter, softened
  • 220g coconut sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 3 large eggs, beaten 
  • 200g spelt flour 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger 
  • 100g ground almonds 
  • 50g blanched almonds, chopped
  • 140g dried apricots, chopped 
  • 140g dried figs, chopped 
  • Zest and juice 1 lemon Zest and juice 1 orange

Directions 

  1. Mix the sultanas and brandy and set aside for about an hour to soak. 
  2. Heat oven to 160C/140 fan. Grease a deep 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base and sides with a double layer of baking parchment that comes about 2.5cm above the sides of the tin. 
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one. 
  4. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground almonds. Next add the soaked sultanas, apricots, figs and the zest and juice of both the lemon and orange. Scrape into the cake tin, smoothing out the surface 
  5. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 25 minutes. Insert a skewer in the centre to check it’s cooked, if not bake for 10 minutes more. Cool the cake in the tin. Wrap in grease proof paper and then a layer of foil. Cake will keep for up to a month.