Baileys Fruit And Nut Loaf Cakes
A delicious fruit packed loaf cake topped with Irish cream liqueur icing. Makes two cakes, why not gift one to a friend (or just eat it, we won't judge).
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Cake Tins
Ingredients
For The Cakes
- 225 g unsalted butter softened
- 225 g light soft brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 250 g plain flour
- 300 g sultanas
- 200 g currants
- 200 g seedless raisins
- 200 g glacé cherries halved
- 40 g Brazil nuts chopped
- 40 g hazelnuts chopped
- 40 g macadamia nuts chopped
- 40 g whole blanched almonds chopped
- 6 tbsp Baileys The Original Irish Cream to 'feed' the cake (optional)
For The Decoration
- 40 g hazelnuts roughly chopped
- 100 g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp Baileys The Original Irish Cream (or cold espresso coffee)
- 40 g macadamia nuts roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 150c/130c fan/gas mark 2. Line two 21cm x 11cm loaf tins with three layers of baking paper (the liquids soak through so you need three layers).
- Beat your butter and soft brown sugar together until it has achieved a light and fluffy consistency. Beat in the large eggs one at a time. For the last two eggs, and in one rounded tbsp of flour with each egg.
- Fold in the rest of your flour. Add the sultanas, currants, raisins, glacé cherries, and chopped nuts.
- Divide the mixture between your two cake tins and level the mixture off. Dampen your fingertips and pat all over the top of your loafs. This helps it to remain soft when baking and prevents it hardening too much. Bake for one hour.
- Cut two pieces of baking paper the size of your two tins and make a small hole in the centre of each piece, around the size of a 10p coin. This helps prevent the tops from browning too much and allows heat to escape a little. Lay the paper on top of your cakes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 140c/120c fan/gas mark 1 and bake for a further one hour and thirty minutes or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of each cake. Start testing after one hour as some ovens vary in performance.
- Remove the cakes from the tins, but keep the paper on. Cool on a wire rack. Once fully cooled, discard the baking paper and wrap the cakes in fresh baking paper followed by foil. Store in an airtight container.
- If you are 'feeding' the cakes, start five days prior to decorating to enable the Baileys to soak in. Prick the cakes all over the top with a skewer and drizzle 1tbsp of Baileys over each cake. Wrap the cakes and store as before. Repeat every day for two more days (no need to re-prick them).
- When you're ready to decorate your cakes, preheat your oven to 180c/180c fan/gas mark 4. Put your hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for five minutes until lightly toasted.
- Mix the icing sugar with the Baileys (or espresso). Drizzle in a zigzag pattern over the top of the cakes. Decorate with the macadamias and toasted hazelnuts. Set aside and allow the icing to set.
Notes
Each 103g serving contains approximately:
382kcal
16.6g fat
6.6g saturates
34.0g sugars
0.13g salt Typically 371kcal per 100g.
382kcal
16.6g fat
6.6g saturates
34.0g sugars
0.13g salt Typically 371kcal per 100g.
