All That's Left Are The Crumbs: Dundee Cake ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

"There's nothing better than cake but more cake." - Harry S. Truman

The Cake Slice Bakers continue to bake through The European Cake Cookbook. It is hard to believe that we are almost up to our twelfth cake from this book and it will be time to say goodbye to our European cakes and choose a new book for 2020.

Our choices this month were Chocolate Kiev Cake, German Prinzregenten Torte, Dundee Cake or a Pomegranate Creme Cake. I choose the Dundee Cake as it seemed like the kind of holiday cake I would like - full of dried fruit, but not too dark and heavy.

A Dundee cake is a traditional Scottish fruit cake often made with currants, sultanas and almonds and fruit peel may be added to it. The cake is said to have originated in nineteenth-century Scotland, and was originally made as a mass-produced cake by the marmalade company Keiller's marmalade. One popular story suggests that Mary Queen of Scots did not like glacé cherries in her cakes, so the cake was first made for her as a fruit cake that used blanched almonds and not cherries. I agree with her regarding her dislike of glacé cherries.

I decided to put a tropical twist on my cake, more out of necessity than anything else, as I could not find blanched almonds anywhere and I did not have time to make them myself. Instead of blanched almonds on top I chose to put dried pineapple. This dried pineapple was from a local company and it had nothing artificial in it at all - just pineapple. I also subbed out the dried blueberries and added chopped dried pineapple and ginger instead. It was so delicious and I definitely did not miss the almonds at all. Next time I may add some macadamia nuts just for a little crunch.

Dundee Cake
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

180ml (¼ cup) brandy
150g (1 cup) golden raisins
75g (½ cup) dried cranberries
75g (½ cup) dried pineapple, chopped
75g (½ cup) candied mixed peel
230g (1 cup) butter, softened
100g (½ cup) sugar
100g (½ cup) brown sugar
5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
5 eggs
186g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
96g (1 cup) almond flour
12g (3 tsp) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest from 1 orange
80ml (⅓ cup) orange marmalade
dried pineapple slices, for garnish

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 160 ℃ (325 ℉ ).
Line the bottom of a 23cm (9-inch) springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
In a small bowl, combine the brandy, raisins, cranberries, pineapple and mixed peel; let this mixture stand while preparing the cake batter, stirring every 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, both sugars, and vanilla on high speed for 2 minutes, until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Sift the dry ingredients into the cake batter, then mix just until the flour is well incorporated.
Drain the berries and fruit, reserving any remaining brandy.
Fold the fruit into the cake batter, along with the orange zest.
Transfer the batter into prepared cake pan and level the top with an offset spatula.
Add the dried pineapple pieces on top, arranging them as desired.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for approximately 1 hour.
Meanwhile, combine the orange marmalade and remaining brandy.
After baking for 1 hour, brush the top of the cake with this mixture using a pastry brush.
Return the cake to the oven and continue to bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and glaze again.
Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.