Gregg Wallace’s Spiced fruit cake

A super-simple, super-delicious fruit cake from Gregg Wallace, best known for co-presenting the MasterChef series on BBC1 and 2. Gregg’s latest venture is his weight loss and health site called ShowMe.Fit.

We really love Gregg’s quote of support, which reflects the philosophy of Share A Meal: ‘We can make a difference and have a positive impact, we just need to reach out.’  

We’re not absolutely sure this scrumptious cake would have a place on a weight-loss regime but everyone needs a treat – and this has made the chaps who taste-tested it very happy indeed.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, very soft

125g soft brown sugar 

3 large eggs 

250g self-raising flour

5 tbsp whole milk 

1 tsp all spice 

½ tsp cinnamon 

400g mixed dried fruit 

50g glacé cherries 

To decorate: glaze with a little warm sieved marmalade or apricot jam and stick a few halved glacé cherries and whole peeled almonds on top

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3.

2. Butter a 20cm cake tin with a removable base and line the base with a circle of baking parchment.

3. Mix the softened butter, sugar, eggs, flour, milk and spices all together in a big bowl. Make sure they are all well incorporated. (You can do this vigorously by hand or slowly and gently in a mixer with a K attachment – not a whisk.)

4. Add the dried fruit and glacé cherries and mix gently, being careful not to break up the fruit. 

5. Put the mixture in the cake tin and level the top. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

6. Take out of the oven and allow the cake to cool before turning out of the tin. Then decorate if you wish – it makes a splendid present.