Yummy fruit cake

This low-cost, dairy-free fruit cake is totally yummy and a great treat or even a Christmas cake alternative.

Serves: 16 (makes 16 slices)

Time to make: 1 hr 15 mins , plus 2 hrs soaking

Hands-on time: 15 mins

Ingredients

1 cup raisins
1 cup diced dried dates
1 cup diced dried apricots
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup apple juice
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
4 tablespoons no-added-sugar marmalade (we used St Dalfour)

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Instructions

Stay Awake

1 In a large bowl, stir together dried fruit, spices and juice. Soak for 2 hours.

2 Preheat the oven to 150°C. Mash bananas and mix them in. Add eggs. Add flour and stir. Pour into a greased cake tin. Bake for about 1 hour until skewer comes out clean.

3 While cake is still hot, smear marmalade on top. Some marmalade will soak into the cake.

Variations

Decorate with pecan halves or almond halves.
You can use cranberries instead of raisins, or peaches instead of apricots.
If you want an egg-free recipe, omit the eggs.
To make this cake a ‘celebration’ cake (eg. for a birthday or Christmas), dust the cool cake with icing sugar and place a few glacé cherries on top. (Did you know glacé cherries aren’t very healthy? They are made by boiling the fruit in a strong, sugary syrup. This makes the fruit lose its colour so the factory adds artificial red or green colouring.)

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 168 cal

Kilojoules 700 kJ

Protein 4 g

Total fat 1 g

Saturated fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 35 g

Sugar 23 g

Dietary fibre 2 g

Sodium 60 mg

Calcium 40 mg

Iron 1 mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.