Name: Dundee Cake - The Famous Scottish Fruit Cake recipe by Indrani Dhar at BetterButter
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: All-purpose Flour 2 and 1/4 cup; White/brown sugar 1 and 1/4 cup(powdered); Eggs 3; Warm Milk 2/3 cup(as needed to make the batter); Butter(unsalted) 1/2 cup; Oil 1/4 cup; Apricot/orange jam 3-4 tbsp.; Baking Powder 1 tsp.; Almonds 150 gms. (approx.); Raisin 1/2 cup; Dates 7-8 nos.(chopped); Figs 7-8 nos. (chopped); Zest of 1 orange and 1 Lemon; Cherries 6-7 nos.(chopped) + 4-5 (for decoration, if doing the flower decoration like mine); Spice Powders 1 tbsp. (ground spice mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves); Glaze-; Milk- 1 tbsp; Sugar- 1 tbsp

ABOUT Dundee Cake - The Famous Scottish Fruit Cake RECIPE

It is a famous traditional Scottish fruit cake with a rich flavour. It was first commercially developed in Dundee on the Scottish east coast in the early 1800s. It is said that the cake was originally made for Mary Queen of Scots in the 16th century. Legend has it that she didn’t like cherries, which were traditional in fruit cakes at the time. Local bakers made a version with almonds instead of cherries, decorating the top in a beautiful fashion with concentric circles of almonds.

Ingredients Serving: 8

All-purpose Flour 2 and 1/4 cup
White/brown sugar 1 and 1/4 cup(powdered)
Eggs 3
Warm Milk 2/3 cup(as needed to make the batter)
Butter(unsalted) 1/2 cup
Oil 1/4 cup
Apricot/orange jam 3-4 tbsp.
Baking Powder 1 tsp.
Almonds 150 gms. (approx.)
Raisin 1/2 cup
Dates 7-8 nos.(chopped)
Figs 7-8 nos. (chopped)
Zest of 1 orange and 1 Lemon
Cherries 6-7 nos.(chopped) + 4-5 (for decoration, if doing the flower decoration like mine)
Spice Powders 1 tbsp. (ground spice mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves)
Glaze-
Milk- 1 tbsp
Sugar- 1 tbsp

Instructions

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Place your raw almonds into the boiling water. Drain the almonds immediately in a colander or strainer.
Rinse them with cold water to cool them. Blot the almonds dry with a paper towel. Use your fingers to gently squeeze the almonds and loosen the skin from them.
After peeling off the skin, chop about 10-15 almonds in small cubes and cut into halves from rest of the almonds. Put the butter in a large bowl and beat well until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add oil in the batter and mix well. Stir in the orange and lemon zest and apricot jam.
In another bowl, sieve together the flour and baking powder. In the same bowl, add all the dry fruits, chopped almonds, cherries and spice powders. Mix well everything. Now pour this flour mixture slowly into the butter-sugar batter slowly.
Beat in between to mix well. Add in milk as much needed to make a creamy batter. Beat in high speed for couple of minutes and our dundee cake batter is ready.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease your baking pan well and pour the batter into greased baking pan. Level the top with a spatula. Now decorate the cake with halved almonds and cherry.
I arranged them in flower pattern for a change and placed a half cherry in the center of each flower. You can arrange the almonds in traditional manner also, arrange the whole almonds close together in neat circles on the top of the cake.
Place the pan in the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake, comes out with little crumbs.
After 45 minutes of baking, remove the cake from the oven, put the milk and sugar into a small pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Brush over the top of the cake and return the cake to the oven for another 5 mins.
to check for doneness, put a toothpick in the center. When it’s done it should have just a few crumbs attached. It’s important not to overcook this cake so that the center is a little soft. Remove and allow the cake to cool in the tin. Rest the cake for 4-5 hours.

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