I lost the paddle for my bread-maker and then had to rely on bought bread and other baked products, after making just one cake in the machine. That was soggy, to say the least, due to my misreading the baking instructions – I weighed out 175g of dried fruit and then soaked the lot before adding it to the mix instead of soaking fruit and then adding 175g to the mix. It was still delicious, though, and got a big thumbs up from my five year old.
Six weeks on and I am now in possession of a new paddle, so baking can begin in earnest again. This time, I got the mixture right, or rather I got the amount of soaked dried fruit right, as I did in fact add chocolate powder instead of cinnamon and nutmeg. My daughter’s judgement is that this cake is too dry and I am inclined to agree, so we might need to tweak the recipe a little. Maybe that is why brandy is an optional extra in the book?
Very good !!!! Thanks.