May Matters- Day 26- Mary's Holiday Fruit Loaf

May Morsel time again! This time it's Mary's Holiday Fruit Loaf.

I know it's only been a few days since the last one, but I couldn't wait to show you this one. This far outweighs the vinegar loaf in the tasting stakes and thought I'd just have to share. It's called Holiday Fruit Loaf, not in the American Christmas type holiday, but in the British, Vacation, summer, bank holiday type of holiday! Does that make sense to you, cos it does to me, but you never know.., Anyway back to the cake.

 

It's called Holiday Fruit cake, as it was always with us, each time we went on holiday, with my grandparents. Grandma would make it a day or so before (It always taste better after a day or two) and keep it in a bright orange Tuperware container. We used to go on many holidays with our Grandparents and this usually involved hitching up the caravan to the car and heading off for a couple of weeks. Sometimes it was Scarborough, Or Skegness, Often Blackpool.. But when the 'Big' summer holidays came we headed across the channel taking the caravan with us.

 

 

The orange Tuperware container would sit in a bag on the floor of the back seat, surrounded by books, pillows, bottles of pop, Butter in cool boxes, (because my Grandad never 'trusted' 'Foreign' food!), Packets and packets of Spangles (His favourite sweets when driving) and everything else that anyone would need heading for the continent. 

 

 

The holiday cake, however, meant to last us for a few days, but rarely got past Dover before the whole lot would have been eaten! We would stop at lay bys - Open up the caravan, put the kettle on and cut up the cake- One slice was never enough!

 

 

Talking to Grandma about the Vinegar cake, got us reminiscing about the fruit cake and so I made it to take way with me this weekend- It went down very well and keeps for quite a while in an airtight container- not that it will last that long, before it's all gone!

So you need:

10 oz Self Raising Flour

8 oz Sugar

8 oz Margarine

Pkt Dried Fruit

2 eggs

Small tin Evaporated milk

 

 

 Now you'll see that a couple of measurements are a bit ambiguous- so after trawling websites and shop floors and asking lost of people- I came to the conclusion that a Small tin of Evaporated Milk is 5 fluid oz- about 150 mls. A pkt of dried fruit can be anywhere are 350- 500g depending on brand etc- I'm sure before metric there was a set weight- but if you know what that was, let me know! I went with about 375 g and it seemed about right- but you add or take away some-m depending on what you fancy.

 

First mix together Sugar, flour, Marg.

 

Add in fruit and eggs and give it a mix.

 

Add the evaporated milk.

And give it another mix

Pour into a lined loaf tin and pop it into  pre heated oven 300- 350 degrees.

 

Bake for approx. 1 Hour and a quarter, until cooked through and golden.

 

 Enjoy- Caravan optional!!

Amanda x