What a fabulous recipe this is for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake. A proper old-fashioned “cut and come again” fruit cake.

Vintage Recipe from Farmhouse Cookery by Mrs Arthur Webb

What a fabulous recipe this is for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake. A proper old-fashioned “cut and come again” fruit cake.

The one that your granny or mum would serve for Sunday tea, or for elevenses. This recipe was found in an old cookbook called Farmhouse Cookery by Mrs Arthur Webb.

It’s a veritable gem of a book, with recipes from most of the English, Scottish and Welsh counties. Published in the 1930’s, my copy has lost its dust jacket, but it is used regularly.

Mrs Webb (Mabel Edwards Webb), was a a suffragist, writer and cookery programme presenter for BBC radio; she was active between the 1930’s and 1950’s.

Anyway, back to today’s recipe for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake. This is what my granny used to call “a plain slab cake”!

It doesn’t sound that exciting when said like that! However, it is a fabulously rich, fruity cake, which keeps for several weeks in the cake tin.

If, like me, you are missing your daily slice of Christmas Cake, then this is the cake for you.

Baked in an 8″x 8″ (20cm) square tin, it cuts beautifully and is amazing when served with cheese, Wensleydale of course.

The secret behind this very moist fruit cake is the Sherry. A goodly amount of sherry is added to the cake (sorry Vicar!) with the mixed fruit.

This ample fruit cake serves up to 30 slices of cake, so it’s a good one to make for the cake tin, and for the school or office lunch box

I hope you will enjoy this cake as much as we all do here at Lavender & Lovage. You can make it in a round cake tin too, but I prefer a square tin for ease of cutting.

Culinary Notes

• For a fancier cake, add 100g halved glace cherries in step 5.
• Add port instead of sherry or sweet wine to the mixed dried fruit.
• To check if the cake is cooked – when the cake is cooked, a skewer (I use my granny’s old knitting needle!) should come out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
• Makes a lovely alternative to a Christmas Cake – if making this as a Christmas cake, you can feed it weekly with more sherry.
• You can make it in a round cake tin too, but I prefer a square tin for ease of cutting.
• Serve with thin slices of cheese, as we do in Yorkshire!

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Recipe for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake

Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake

Yield:
30 slices

Prep Time:
12 hours 30 minutes

Cook Time:
3 hours

Total Time:
15 hours 30 minutes

What a fabulous recipe this is for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake. A proper old-fashioned “cut and come again” fruit cake.

The one that your granny or mum would serve for Sunday tea, or for elevenses. This recipe was found in an old cookbook called Farmhouse Cookery by Mrs Arthur Webb.

It’s a veritable gem of a book, with recipes from most of the English, Scottish and Welsh counties. Published in the 1930’s, my copy has lost its dust jacket, but it is used regularly.

Mrs Webb (Mabel Edwards Webb), was a a suffragist, writer and cookery programme presenter for BBC radio; she was active between the 1930’s and 1950’s.

She also wrote for The Farmer’s Weekly, another source of fabulous old-style and vintaage recipes, that I often use.

Anyway, back to today’s recipe for Yorkshire Farmhouse Fruit Cake. This is what my granny used to call “a plain slab cake”!

It doesn’t sound that exciting when said like that! However, it is a fabulously rich, fruity cake, which keeps for several weeks in the cake tin.

If, like me, you are missing your daily slice of Christmas Cake, then this is the cake for you.

Baked in an 8″x 8″ (20cm) square tin, it cuts beautifully and is amazing when served with cheese, Wensleydale of course.

The secret behind this very moist fruit cake is the Sherry. A goodly amount of sherry is added to the cake (sorry Vicar!) with the mixed fruit.

This ample fruit cake serves up to 30 slices of cake, so it’s a good one to make for the cake tin, and for the school or office lunch box

I hope you will enjoy this cake as much as we all do here at Lavender & Lovage. You can make it in a round cake tin too, but I prefer a square tin for ease of cutting.

Ingredients

• 900g (2lbs) mixed fruit (sultanas, currants and raisins)
• 150ml (1/4 pint) sherry or sweet wine
• 225g (8ozs) softened butter
• 225g (8ozs) soft brown sugar
• 4 large eggs (beaten)
• 350g (12 ozs) plain white flour
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 100g (4ozs) mixed peel
• 1 tablespoon (15mls) black treacle
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Instructions

1. Start the night before you want to bake the cake. Place all the mixed dried fruit (not the peel) in to a large mixing bowl and pour the sherry over the fruit. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnignt to soak.
2. The next day when you are ready to bake the cake, prfe-heat the oven to 160C/150C Fan/300F/Gas mark 3 and grease and line a square 8″ x 8″ cake tin.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – I find an electric hand held mixer is best for this. Add the mixed spice to the flour.
4. Gradually add the flour and beaten eggs, alternating with the flour and eggs as you go, mixing gently after every addition, as not to curdle the mixture. Continue until all the flour and eggs are used up.
5. Add the sherry soaked fruit, mixed peel, black treacle and the orange zest to the cake batter. Mix well.
6. Spoon the cake mixture into the lined cake tin, making sure the middle is slightly dipped in the middle. (As the cake rises, this makes sure your cake is even all over)
7. Bake for 1 hour, then reduce the oven temperature to 140C/130C Fan/280F/Gas mark 1, and continue to bake for a further 1 to 2 hours – checking after 1 hour that the cake is cooked, when a skewer (I use my granny’s old knitting needle!) comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
8. If the cake is browning too quickly, cover it with some baking parchment, or tinfoil.
9. Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool int the tin, before turning it out and serving cut into slices.
10. Store for up to 3 weeks in an airtight tin.

Notes

For a fancier cake, add 100g halved glace cherries in step 5.

Add port instead of sherry or sweet wine to the mixed dried fruit.

To check if the cake is cooked – the cake is cooked, a skewer (I use my granny’s old knitting needle!) should come out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Makes a lovely alternative to a Christmas Cake – if making this as a Christmas cake, you can feed it weekly with more sherry.

You can make it in a round cake tin too, but I prefer a square tin for ease of cutting.

Serve with thin slices of cheese, as we do in Yorkshire!

Nutrition Information

Yield 30

Serving Size 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories 38Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 26mgSodium 13mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 1g