best ever, last minute - easy fruit cake recipe

For a no-fuss - last minute - moist fruit cake, guaranteed to become a favourite - here is the recipe...
You don't have to make it just at Christmas or Easter...

best ever last minute Fruit Cake

Ingredients:
1 kg mixed dried fruit. (If you like a darker looking cake, add prunes to the mix. Everytime we make this, the mixed dried fruit stays the same but we add other fruit to it as well: dried cranberries, crushed pineapple etc )

½ cup liquid. (Use sherry, rum or Earl Grey tea)

200g butter

2 cups flour

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

½ cup milk

¼ cup honey

Method:

Soak dried fruit in the liquid overnight














then...

Rub butter into flour in a large bowl

Add sugar, baking soda and salt then mix in the soaked dried fruit mix

In a separate bowl, mix eggs with milk and honey

Add to the fruit mixture and mix well with your hands

Put into a lined tin (23cm)

Bake at 160°C for 2½ hours

Enjoy, with or without icing

You know you're serving up something good when everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe
This one is a winner

easy fruit cake recipe

Apricot (fudge) Slice recipe with pictures

Apricot Slice

This no-bake Apricot Slice treat is a variation on a number of different recipes.

Basic Apricot Slice is great but you may as well indulge a sweet-tooth to the max if you're putting in some effort. 

That simply means adding white macadamia chocolate bits to the base and complimenting the whole thing with lemon and coconut icing.

For the base

250g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 can condensed milk

2 cups dried apricots, chopped

2 packets plain (wine) biscuits, crushed

½ cup white chocolate, roughly chopped

Melt butter, brown sugar and condensed milk. 

You can melt it in a microwave proof dish for 2 minutes, stir and microwave another minute, then another - and another...

or stir in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat until it's a fudgy-brown colour and everything is melted

Chop up dried apricots

view chopping as active relaxation instead of a chore

add chopped apricots to melted butter, sugar and condensed milk mix

then add the crushed wine (plain) biscuits

If you don't have white chocolate bits, feel free to leave this step out

Press the mix you have just made into a tin (20cm x 30cm) - lined with greaseproof paper

I omitted this step of the greaseproof paper and had a difficult time getting the slice out of the tin once it had set. 

For the topping

100g butter

1½ cups Icing Sugar (lemon flavoured)

1-2 Tablespoons hot water

¼ cup coconut

grated lemon zest (to your own preference - or leave out if you don't have lemons handy)

Beat butter until fluffy and pale

Add icing sugar and water until light and fluffy

Spread over the slice

Sprinkle with coconut and (optional) grated lemon zest

put it in the fridge for 2 hours to set

Then cut into squares or slice as is and enjoy with a good cup of tea

Apricot  Fudge  Slice

There you have it - Apricot Fudge Slice... enjoy

30 pieces of Chocolate Rough Slice recipe

For the base
1½ cups plain flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup caster sugar
½ cup coconut
175g melted butter

For the topping
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup coconut
4 tablespoons condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (choice is yours: essence, paste or extract)

To make the base
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease and line a 20x30cm slice tin.
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl, then stir in the sugar and coconut. 
Add the butter and mix to form moist crumbs.
Press the crumb base mixture into the prepared tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool.

To make the topping
Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl and stir in the melted butter, coconut, condensed milk and vanilla.
Mix well.
Spread over the base and refrigerate for 2 hours until firm.
Cut into pieces and enjoy