Dried Fruit and Nut Cake

Mindy gave me the book Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich as a parting gift, and I have found it truly inspirational. There are some delicious looking recipes, that encourage improvisation and are based on purity and true taste- using fruits and whole grains as inspiration to develop flavor rather than for health reasons. And her desserts are not particularly healthy, just to clarify. This book is totally in my line of thinking and so I immediately started baking from it, starting with what I had in my kitchen.

Adam hordes raisins like a fiend, and encourages me to buy multiple kinds while I am at the store. So for this Fruit and Nut Bread, most of the dried fruit I used were raisins- I also threw in dried cranberries, apricots, and figs. For the nuts, the recipe says walnuts but you can use any- I used walnuts, hazelnuts, and some leftover almond slivers I had in my freezer.

Here is the recipe typed in from the book, along with some pictures.

DRIED FRUIT AND NUT CAKE

3/4 C. AP flour

1/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 C. natural sugar

3 C. dried fruits

3 C. nuts

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300, spray a loaf pan.

In a large bowl thoroughly combine all dry ingredients, including sugar, nuts and fruit.

In a small bowl beat eggs with vanilla until light.

Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients, and mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Pour and spread evenly in prepared pan, and bake until the top is a deep golden brown, about 75 minutes.

This is a truly delicious cake that is relatively healthy (for cake). I have been toasting it in the morning and eating it with my yogurt. Its a great source of energy. It also keeps forever, wrapped in plastic on the counter. A TOTAL WIN!