Rich fruit loaves

I love a thick, sticky fruit cake. This is my English heritage talking, as there is no tradition of these heavily spiced fruit cakes in the Middle East. I think it is just too hot to eat them, but in the UK, with its cold gray weather, they really hit the spot. Here are my three variations on the fruit cake theme, each with a distinct character and slight Middle Eastern twist. We use the fruit and nut loaf (below) as our version of a Christmas cake. Once baked, we halve it and fill it with a layer of marzipan.

Fruit & nut loaf

Makes a (2lb) 8½ × 4½ inch loaf

My first kitchen job was at Orna and Ella, a café in Tel Aviv. I worked there on and off for five years, and if I know anything important about food and people, I learnt it there. Every year around September the pastry section would go into a frenzy, baking honey cakes for the Jewish new year. The smell of them would fill the entire street, and drive us mad in the kitchen. Containing every kind of spice, plus coffee, tea and (obviously) honey, these cakes were legend. We would give them away to our regular customers and to all our suppliers, and each of us got one (or three) with best wishes for a sweet year to come. At Honey & Co we kept the tradition but changed the cake and moved the baking frenzy to the end of December, so that each staff member leaves for their Christmas holiday with our best wishes, and our cake.

This is a rich loaf with very little cake batter and lots and lots of fruit. You need to soak the dried fruit in tea and brandy for at least an hour, or ideally overnight. I candy my own lemon or cedro (aka citron) and orange peel using the method here, but you can use a shop-bought selection if you prefer. Similarly, the fruit and nuts here are my suggestion—use your favorite combination, but do keep the sour cherries, as they give a special tangy burst of flavor now and again which makes this loaf really special.

For the dried fruit (200g in total)

50g golden raisins

50g dried currants

50g dried cranberries

50g dried sour cherries

1 mug of strong black tea

3 tbsp brandy, plus 1 tbsp

For the nuts (200g in total; I use whole nuts with the skin on)

50g pistachios

50g hazelnuts

50g almonds

50g walnuts

For the candied fruit (150g in total)

50g candied orange peel, cut in thick strips

50g candied ginger, cut in rough dice

50g candied cedro or lemon peel, cut in thick strips

For the cake batter

75g/ml whole milk

75g/ml golden syrup (or thick honey or light corn syrup)

25g unsalted butter

50g granulated sugar

50g dark brown sugar

140g self-rising flour (or 140g all-purpose flour plus 1½ tsp baking powder)

1 tbsp sweet spice mix (here)

a pinch of table salt

1 egg

Put the dried fruit in a large bowl and make a strong cup of tea (better still, make two cups, so that you can drink one while the fruit soaks in the other). Pour the tea and brandy over the fruit and leave to soak for at least one hour (or ideally overnight). While it is soaking, roast the nuts for 6 minutes at 375°F/350°F convection and prepare your other ingredients.

Drain the soaked fruit in a sieve over a large bowl. Retain the soaking liquid, add the extra tablespoon of brandy to it and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F/325°F convection. Butter an 8½ × 4½ inch loaf tin and line with a sheet of baking parchment to cover the base and long sides, allowing a little overhang so that this can be used to help lift the loaf out later.

Warm the milk, golden syrup, butter, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar together in a large saucepan until the sugars have dissolved and the mixture is just starting to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, spice and salt. Mix in the drained fruit, whole roasted nuts and candied fruit, then add the egg and combine thoroughly. Transfer to the lined tin and smooth the top.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, then turn the tin around for an even bake and leave for another 20 minutes. At this stage it should feel nice and bouncy. If it still feels a little soft, bake for a further 10 minutes until it does feel bouncy.

Remove from the oven and use the retained soaking liquid to douse the cake all over (I prick the surface with a toothpick or skewer before dousing to help the syrup to sink all the way in). Allow to cool in the tin, then wrap in cling film and store at room temperature. This keeps well for 2 weeks and improves with time. If you are feeling Christmassy, you can cover it with marzipan and decorate (or do as we do: cut it in half and fill the middle with a layer of marzipan).

Ginger & date cake

Makes a (2lb) 8½ × 4½ inch loaf

This cake embodies the best of traditional British baking: it is dark and moist, glistens with molasses and is perfumed with all the spice of a Dickensian Christmas. But at the same time the flavors are Middle Eastern: ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and sweet dates. This perhaps is the happy meeting point for our country of origin and our adopted one.

150g/ml heavy cream

150g date molasses (or black treacle), plus more to glaze (if you like)

50g unsalted butter

100g dark brown sugar

200g self-rising flour (or 200g all-purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp table salt

130g pitted dates, chopped

50g crystallized ginger, chopped, plus more to garnish (if you like)

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350°F/325°F convection. Butter an 8½ × 4½ inch loaf tin and line with a sheet of baking parchment to cover the base and long sides, allowing a little overhang so that this can be used to help lift the cake out later.

Warm the cream, date molasses, butter and sugar together in a large saucepan until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is just starting to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, spices and salt. Mix in the chopped dates and ginger, then add the egg and combine thoroughly before transferring the batter to the lined tin.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, then turn the tin around for an even bake and leave for another 30 minutes. At this stage it should still be a little soft to the touch, but stable and with a lovely thick crust. You can’t really test this cake with a toothpick as it has a gooey texture even when fully baked, but if you push down a little with the tip of your finger in the center and it doesn’t sink, remove from the oven. If you feel there is still quite a bit of softness there, bake for a further 10 minutes, but do take it out after that—you will just have to trust me that it will be fine once it has cooled. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush it generously with the extra date molasses (if using) and leave to cool in the tin.

If you want to make this look really special, chop up some more crystallized ginger, toss it in granulated sugar and sprinkle the pieces all over the sticky top. Don’t worry if you can’t be bothered; it is delicious just as it is. This is a cake that improves with age (within reason), so it is even better the day after baking, and lasts well for a couple of weeks in an airtight container.