Sticky Date and Prune Cake

According to some scientist types this weekend is the weekend when those resolutions that you were adamant that you would stick to simply fail, fall or die trying.

Is it any wonder though? It's January, the depths of winter, who really wants to start a new exercise regime or start eating healthily when all you really want to do is watch tely under a duvet on the sofa and eat comfort food.

Well, if you are one of those many people who have told the New Year resolutions where to go then I have the recipe right here for you. It's a reasonable healthy cake which you can eat guilt-free, a term which I personally hate because cake should always be guilt-free. But if you insist on associating unnecessary emotions on an innocent piece of cake then follow the advice of the great Mary Berry: 'have a smaller slice'.

This cake is taken from HRH Delia Smith and her very lovely book: Delia's Cakes and I decided to have a go at it to do something different cake-wise instead of the Great Cake Project 2014 plus I can actually eat this one instead of just decorating it.

It is a cracking cake once cooked and cooled. It is dark, it is dense, it is sticky, it is...in a word... glorious. It's a perfect winter cake and after reading this you definitely go and make it.

Sticky Date and Prune cake
Ingredients
175g dates, stoned and chopped
125g ready-to-eat prunes, chopped
75g raisins
75g currants
200g butter
300g condensed milk
220g plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp Bicarb
1 tbsp marmalade

Glaze
1 1/2 tbsp marmalade +1/2 tbsp water

Method
Place everything apart from the dry ingredients and marmalade into a sauce pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes then place into a large mixing bowl to cool for half n hour
Line a 20cm cake tin and preheat the oven to 170C (fan)
Weigh out the flour and sift with the salt and bicarb.
Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the dry ingredients and marmalade into it until fully combined.
Pour into the tin and smooth with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Halfway through, check on it, if the top is getting dark, cover with baking paper for the remaining time.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out on a cooling rack.
Once the cake is cool, heat the marmalade and water in a small saucepan until smooth then brush over the cake to glaze it.

Serve and Enjoy