Certosino

INGREDIENTS

  • 150g Raisin
  • 100g Dried Apricots
  • 180g Plain chocolate
  • 130g Candied Mixed Peel
  • 380g Plain flour
  • 1 tbspn Baking Powder
  • 150g Clear honey
  • 200g Caster Sugar
  • 150g Unsalted butter
  • 2 tspn Ground cinnamon
  • 1 tspn Fennel seeds
  • 300g Eating apples
  • 1 tspn Orange zest
  • 3 tbspn Marsala
  • 100g Pine Nut
  • 4 tbspn Apricot Jam
  • 3 tbspn Candied cherries
  • to decorate Fruits and nuts
Print Recipe

Soak the raisins and chopped apricots in the Verjuice, cover with cling film and gently warm in the microwave for 1 minute, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 160C, and grease and line a 24cm square cake tin with butter and parchment paper.

Put the chocolate and candied peel in the bowl of a processor and chop until reduced to a rough, slightly knobbly mixture.

Sift the flour and the baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

Heat the honey gently with the sugar, butter and spices. Once blended together (don”t let it boil), remove from the heat and stir in the grated apples, olive oil, orange zest and flour and mix to a smooth batter. Stir in the chopped chocolate and candied peel, the raisins and apricots with the Marsala, the chopped bitter oranges, almonds and pine nuts.

Scrape the mixture into the cake tin, decorate with nuts and dried fruits. Bake for 1–1 ¼ hours until just firm – test by plunging a skewer into the heart of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Leave to cool for 10 minus, then take out of the tin to cool completely.

To finish, warm the apricot jam gently in a pan. Brush half over the top of the cake. Wrap in grease-proof paper then cling film to store.

Maggie”s tip: It”s important not to overcook the cake; it”s always better to cook longer at a lower temperature so the edges aren”t dry.