Fruit Butter Pound Cake

 

Ingredients:

This recipe makes 9x5 inch fruit pound cake so use the loaf pan cake mold accordingly.

For Cake

• 250 g All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 150 g Sugar
• 225 g Unsalted Butter or Sweet Butter Cream - Soften at Room Temperature
• 4 Eggs - Room Temperature

For Mixed Dried Fruits

• 1 tsp Syrup of your choice or Organic Agave Syrup
• 1 Tsp Water
• Mixed Dried Fruit of your choice ; Below is what I used for this recipe:
• 2 Tsp Golden Dried Raisin
• 2 Tsp Brown Dried Raisin
• 2 Tsp Dried Cranberries/Craisins
• 3 Large Dried Fig - chopped to match the size of raisins & craisins

Tools/Materials:

• 9x5 inch non-stick loaf pan
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Food Scale
• Strainer
• Mixing bowls - different sizes
• Spatula/Spoon
• Knife
• Kitchen Cloth Towel
• Plastic wrap
• Cutting board

Preparation:

For Mixed Dried Fruit

• Soak each dried fruit individually in a small bowl with water for a couple of hours, except the dried fig.   After a couple of hours, discard water and pat dry the dried fruits.  Alternatively, soak the dried fruit individually with the boiled water for about 15 minutes.  Discard the water and pat dry them. 
• Chop the dried fig to match the size of raisins and craisons.
• Transfer all dried fruits into a small mixing bowl. 
• In a small bowl, mix the syrup with the water.  
• Add the syrup mixture to the dried fruit and stir them well.  Set aside.

For Cake

1. The night before making the cake, let the butter sit at the room temperature to get it softened.
2. Zest the lemon and set aside
3. In a mixer bowl, add the softened butter and sugar.  Beat them at medium to medium high speed to combine the butter and the sugar.  The result should look like the fluffy cream texture.
4. Add one egg at a time to the mixer bowl and continue mixing them at the medium speed. Repeat the process until all four eggs have been added.
5. Sift the flour with baking powder to the mixer bowl.  Using the silicone spatula, fold them into the mixture until all flour are well combined.  Alternatively, use the low speed of the stand mixer to combine them.  
6. Fold the lemon zest as well as the mixed dried fruits into the batter using the spatula. 
7. Use a small knife, draw the shallow vertical line (about 1/8 inch height) at the center of the cake batter.  Leave one inch margin at the top and bottom of the vertical line.   This will make a nice crack at the center of the cake once done baking.  

Putting Everything Together:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F degree.
2. Grease the loaf pan.
3. Add the batter into the loaf pan.
4. Bake it for 50 minutes.  
5. Adjust the temperature to 325 F degree.  Bake it for another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, test it with the toothpick to see if it is one.  If not, add additional baking time at 5 minutes increment until the cake is done.
6. Let it cool and remove the cake out of the loaf pan
7. Ready to serve.