Homemade cake and pudding are a highlight of Christmas but I haven't made either for a few years now. I searched through my recipes and came across Hairy Bikers recipes which looked different. Listing the ingredients most were easily available in my local supermarket, one I found in a health food shop and one was made by crushing a spice.
I started with the pudding as that was going to take six hours to cook. The recipe was easy to follow and certainly smelt good before cooking. The only additional ingredient was a generous slug of whisky.
Once the pudding was merrily rattling away in the saucepan I turned my attention to the cake. I wasn't sure that my largest mixing bowl was going to be big enough (I have used a washing up bowl in the past!) but it was - just. The recipe is very fruity but does not contain sugar or butter. The sweetness comes from the fruit and also golden syrup and barley malt syrup. Trying to mix those in was fun!
One the cake was finished I found there was a bit too much for my cake tin. Rather than waste the mix I used it to fill some muffin cases to make individual cakes. These will be iced along with the main cake.
They turned out like this. Let's hope they taste as good as they look!
