We made this last year at my Mum’s in Cyprus, and as we were on the watch for powercuts, it had to be fast. It turns out that this is really, really good. Light and tender on the 1st and 2nd days, but on the 3rd day it had sort of solidified, so we called it fruit cake and ate the rest of it with cream.
200ml of water
100ml Kommandaria wine or spiced rum or apricot brandy
450g mix of dried fruits – Sultanas (whole), chopped apricots, figs, dates and/or prunes
(200g of the fruit should be sultanas and rest made up of approximately equal parts the other fruits.
We used apricots, dates and cherries)
225g butter
250g of soft brown sugar or dark muscovado, your choice
½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of mixed spice
Simmer the above all together in large pan till fat and sugar is dissolved (don’t let it go beyond melted – you are not trying to cook it just melt it all).
I let it sit until it had cooled as it plumps the fruits up nicely.
Dry ingredients
250g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
Sieve dry ingredients Into a large bowl, mix…
Beat 2 eggs into the cooled fruit and liquid.
Mix wet and dry ingredients well.
Put into suitably sized, well buttered microwaveable dish.
We used a plastic pudding bowl but the original author used glass.
Place in microwave.
Cooking times.
900 watts for 8 minutes – Check cooked in centre with skewer – if not done keep adding 2 mins until the skewer comes out clean.
We have an 800 watt microwave and it was 10 minutes altogether.
We tipped it out onto a plate and there was a tiny bit at the bottom that hadn’t cooked, so we stuck it back in for a minute.
You can eat it hot or cold, with breakfast or after dinner as a pudding….
COOKWITCH'S CREATIONS 