HOW TO SOAK DRIED FRUITS

• Soaking dried fruits is a simple process when making a fruit loaf. You can do this and leave the fruit to soak overnight, but in many cases and depending on how dry the fruit is, a minimum of 4 hours is fine.
• Place the dried fruit in a large mixing bowl, make a fresh pot of strong tea or place the tea bags or loose leaf tea in a large mixing jug and pour over some boiling water to just over the required amount needed for this recipe. Some of the liquid will evaporate. Note: Leave it to brew for at least 4 mins.
• When brewed, remove the tea bags and strain if using loose leaf tea, and weigh the amount of liquid needed for this recipe. If any of the liquid has evaporated top up with a little water or orange juice. Pour the tea over the fruit giving everything a good mix and cover with a pan lid or clean tea towel and leave for at least 4 hours to allow the fruit to soak up as much of the tea as possible.
• When you are ready to bake, line 2 x 1lb loaf tins with baking parchment or cake tin liners. If the cake liners are a little on the large side, fold them along the centre to fit the tin.
• You will notice just how much liquid has been soaked into the fruit and how juicy and plump they look. There will still be plenty of liquid left DO NOT throw any of this away.
• Preheat the oven to 160deg c (fan assisted oven)
• Add the eggs and sugar to the fruit and tea mixture, give this a good mix. Then add the flour and any spices (optional) and give everything a really good mix ensuring there are now dry floury bits of cake batter in the bowl.
• Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared loaf tins. Before pouring in the batter, weigh each tin separately, they should be roughly the same, that way you can ensure there is an equal amount of batter in each tin.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 40 - 45 mins or until the fruit loaves are baked. Test the centre of each cake with a cake skewer until it comes out clean. Leave in the tins to cool completely before serving.
• Note: If you choose to bake this recipe in a 2lb(900g) loaf tin, only fill the tin ¾ full allowing extra baking time, about 15 mins extra or until baked. Any remaining batter can be baked in bun or muffin paper cases.