This cake doesn't require any cooking - perfect if a family doesn't have an oven. Cocoa can be replaced with carob powder to make it healthier. Gluten-free ingredients can be used to make it suitable for coeliacs. As it contains nuts, it is not suitable for people with nut allergies.
This cake is suitable for toddlers (chop nuts wery finely to remove choking hazard) but no babies under one year of age because it contains honey. In honey there is a bacteria that can harm young infants.
The cake presented in the photograph was made for a New Year's party and features 11 silver candles in honour of the year 2011. If a family wants to make this cake for a birthday, icing could work well. More suggestions on how to decorate the cake are in the directions.
Ingredients:
- 200g walnuts, chopped (or buy a pack of pieces)
- 200g dates, stoned and chopped
- 100g mixed dried fruit, including candied orange peel
- 50g candied cherries, chopped (reserve some extra for decoration)
- 225g rich tea or digestive biscuits (plain biscuits), crushed
- 50g ground almonds
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon single cream
- 1 apple, peeled and grated
- juice of 2 oranges
- 3 tablespoons Baileys liqueur (optional)
- 10 tablespoons full fat milk
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 100g dark chocolate to cover (optional)
Directions:
- Line a tin with greaseproof paper, it can be a loaf tin or a round tin according to personal preference. If using a loaf tin, a two-pound loaf tin is recommended. In a food processor, put all the ingredients in and blitz until they form a lumpy mixture. Make it in batches if your food processor is on the small side. If a family doesn't have a food processor, it could be hard to mix some of the ingredients and a coffee grinder might be of use. Dates can be softened in hot water before mashing.
- Press the mixture into the tin and refrigerate for several hours. Before serving, turn out on a plate and decorate it to suit the occasion. For Christmas, a rich, dark chocolate top would work quite well.
- If covering it with a layer of chocolate, melt the dark chocolate in a pan or microwave then use a knife to cover the top of the cake. This cake can be iced or topped with chocolate buttercream. Sliced nuts, candied cherries, candied fruit, sliced fresh fruit, sugar decorations can all make it look great, imagination is the limit.
