Italian fruit and nut cake

Italian fruit and nut cake

Ingredients

• 150g (1 cup) flaked almonds
• 150g (1 cup) hazelnuts
• 120g (1 cup) cake flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2.5ml ( tsp) baking powder
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 2.5ml ( tsp) ground cinnamon
• 100g ( cup) caster sugar
• 125ml ( cup) runny honey
• 165ml ( cup) water
• 125ml ( cup) candied peel
• 125ml ( cup) glace fruit, finely chopped
• 60ml ( cup) glace cherries, drained and halved

Method

Spread the almonds and hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven at 180C until golden brown. Remove and reduce the oven temperature to 160C.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon into a bowl. Place the caster sugar, honey and water in saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it just comes to the boil. Remove from heat and beat into the flour mixture until you have a smooth batter.

Mix in the candied peel, glace fruit, cherries and toasted nuts.

Grease or spray 2 x 18cm loose-bottomed cake tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper. Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool in the tins before turning out onto a cooling rack.

This is the kind of cake that keeps well, if you can resist eating it all at once.

Makes 2 flattish cakes