Fruit Cake for Christmas

Ingredients

• 2 organic oranges
• 1 Organic lemon
• 100 g dried apricots (pitted)
• 150 g dried dates (pitted)
• 150 g raisins
• 100 g dried cranberries
• 50 g prunes
• 200 g soft butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 5 eggs
• 200 g Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground cardamom
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 50 g chopped almonds

Instructions

1. 1.

   Soak dried fruit overnight. To do this, rinse oranges and lemon with hot water, dry them, grate the zest, and squeeze out the juice. Cut dried apricots and dates into small pieces with a knife. Place them in a narrow tall container with raisins, cranberries, prunes, and citrus zest; pour in orange and lemon juice. Cover and let sit overnight.

2. 2.

   On the next day, strain the fruit through a sieve, letting it drain well and catching the liquid.

3. 3.

   Beat soft butter until fluffy, add honey, and continue beating until a creamy mixture forms. Gradually fold in eggs. Mix whole wheat flour with baking powder, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and cocoa. Sift into a bowl and stir into the batter in several batches.

4. 4.

   Fold drained dried fruit and almonds into the dough in stages. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and pour in the batter; smooth the top.

5. 5.

   Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C (fan: 160 °C; gas: level 2–3) for about 60–70 minutes. Test with a skewer. Remove, let cool slightly, then carefully break apart. While still warm, poke the cake with a knitting needle or wooden stick and drizzle some of the captured liquid over it. Cool on a wire rack.