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SOURDOUGH CHRISTMAS CAKE

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Serves: 6-8

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  • Vegetarian
What does this mean?

This is from Yoke Mardewi's book called Wild Sourdough.

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Ingredients

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for the fruit and liqueur mixture

  • 150 grams sultanas (mix with raisins and currants)
  • 150 grams raisins (or muscats)
  • 150 grams currants
  • 200 grams black cherries (dried)
  • 100 grams candied orange peel
  • 100 grams dried apricots
  • 100 grams soft dried figs
  • 100 grams nuts (of your choice - optional)
  • 100 grams brandy (or whisky or liqueur of your choice)

for the flour and spice mixture

  • 250 grams plain flour (organic, or organic cake flour)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger (or cloves)

for the butter mixture

  • 300 grams butter (organic)
  • 300 grams rapadura sugar
  • 100 grams dark brown muscovado sugar (or dark brown sugar or molasses sugar)
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 6 large eggs (organic)
  • 500 grams sourdough
  • water (mix with sourdough to make starters - ratio of 1:1 flour to water)
  • 50 grams treacle

Method

  1. Mix together fruits and liqueur and allow to marinate overnight.
  2. Sift together flour and spice mixture.
  3. Beat butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.
  4. Using a spatula or low speed mixer, add the flour mixture, white sourdough starter and treacle.
  5. Using a spatula, add the fruits and nuts until they are evenly distributed.
  6. Ferment the dough for approximately 6 hours or overnight (in winter). The dough will increase to about 1 1/2 times its original size.
  7. Divide the dough into two 18 cm diameter round tins or one 26-28 cm tins or 25 medium size muffins (150 g each).
  8. Bake in preheated oven at 180 celcius (fan-forced) on the lower third rack for 10-15 minutes then reduce heat to 140 celcius and bake for 2-3 hours until golden brown (45 minutes for muffin size cakes). Cover the top of the cake with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.
  9. Once the cakes are out of the oven, brush generously with a liqueur of your choice.
  10. Cake is best eaten after a month or two. Keep in a cool place wrapped in waxed paper and aluminum foil. The cake will also keep in the fridge or freezer for 3 months.

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