Fruit And Nut Loaf Recipes

FRUIT CAKE LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
• Grease and line a 9" x 4" loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
• Add the warm water, milk, vanilla and eggs. Beat until thoroughly combined.
• Add half of the flour mixture, mix just until combined, and then the remaining half and mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Fold in the candied peel and nuts, adding more or less as you'd like it to taste.
• Spread the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove it to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered icing sugar for 2 minutes until smooth and light. Adjust the consistency with more powdered sugar or cream to make it easy to spread.

DRIED FRUIT AND NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spray the loaf pans (either one 9-by-5-inch 8-cup loaf pan or two 8-by-4-inch 4-cup loaf pans) with vegetable oil spray or line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add the brown sugar, all the dried fruit, and the nuts, and mix thoroughly with your fingers. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla until light. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands until all the fruits and nuts are coated with batter. Scrape into the prepared pans.
• Bake until the top is deep golden brown and the batter clinging to the fruit seems set, about 1 hour for smaller loaves, 10 to 15 minutes longer for a large loaf. Tent loosely with foil if the cake appears to be browning too much. Cool completely in the pans on a rack.
• When completely cool, remove the cake from the pans.
• To serve, cut into thin slices with a sharp heavy knife.

NUT AND FRUIT BREAD

Steps:

• Grease an 8 x 5 inch loaf tin thoroughly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a small bowl, beat the egg well. Mix in milk and melted butter or shortening.
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a mixing bowl. Add sugar, nuts, raisins and orange rind; mix well. Blend egg mixture into fruit and nut mixture until flour is just moistened. Turn batter into greased loaf tin, and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
• Place pan in the center of the oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Turn bread out on wire rack, and cool for several hours before slicing.

NUT LOAF SUPREME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• Put walnuts and pecans in a resealable bag and seal; crush nuts using a rolling pin.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic in the hot oil until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, marjoram, sage, and thyme; cook and stir until mushrooms are golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl.
• Stir crushed walnut mixture, Swiss cheese, wild rice, cottage cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper into mushroom mixture until evenly mixed. Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until loaf is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let loaf cool in pan for about 20 minutes before inverting pan and removing loaf.

FESTIVE FRUIT & NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C and lightly grease and line the base and sides of a deep 22-23cm round loose-based cake tin with Bake-o-Glide or baking parchment (see overleaf). Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds and spices until thoroughly mixed and creamy, preferably with an electric beater or in a food mixer.
• Measure off 100g/4oz of the cake mixture, put in a bowl and set aside. Fold the fruit and rum into the remaining mixture, then gently stir in the marzipan. Spoon this mixture into the prepared cake tin and flatten with a spatula to make a smooth even surface, then make a slight dip in the centre of the cake. This simple trick will give the finished cake a nice flat top. Bake for 11⁄4 hours.
• While the cake is in the oven, make the fruit and nut topping. Mix all the nuts, cherries and syrup into the remaining cake mixture (see tip overleaf). Spoon the mixture on top of the part-cooked cake (once it has had its 11⁄4 hours), evenly distributing the mixture of nuts and cherries across the surface of the cake. Loosely cover the top of the tin with foil.
• Return to the oven for 40 minutes more, then take off the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, so the nuts can turn golden. Keep an eye on them, so they don't get too dark. To test the cake mixture is cooked, insert a fine skewer into the cake - if it comes out clean then it's ready. Cool in the tin then turn out, keeping the lining on, and wrap with foil. (The cake will keep for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen for up to 2 months.)
• To serve, remove the cake from the foil and strip away the lining. Place on a board or serving plate and tie with a decorative ribbon.

FRUIT 'N' NUT MINI LOAVES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir in the apricots, nuts and cherries. Beat eggs and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon into eight greased and floured 4-1/2x2-1/2x1-1/2-in. loaf pans (pans will be full). , Bake at 325° for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from the pans to wire racks. Cool completely before slicing.

NUT ROAST

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/ gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 1.5 litre loaf tin with parchment paper.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 15g butter in a large frying pan and cook 1 finely chopped large onion and 2 finely chopped celery sticks for about 5 mins until beginning to soften.
• Stir in 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 200g finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and cook for a further 10 mins.
• Stir in 1 finely diced red pepper and 1 grated carrot and cook for about 3 mins then add 1 tsp dried oregano and 1 tsp smoked paprika and cook for just a minute.
• Add 100g red lentils and 2 tbsp tomato purée and cook for about 1 min, then add 300ml vegetable stock and simmer over a very gentle heat until all the liquid has been absorbed and the mixture is fairly dry. This should take about 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Finally, stir in 100g fresh breadcrumbs, 150g chopped mixed nuts, 3 lightly beaten large eggs, 100g grated mature cheddar, a handful of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley and a pinch of salt and some ground black pepper.
• Stir to mix well then spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and press down the surface.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 mins, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 mins until firm when pressed gently.
• Meanwhile, to make the sauce, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil very gently then add 2 finely sliced garlic cloves and 1 rosemary sprig and heat without colouring.
• Pour in 400ml passata and add a pinch of salt and some ground black pepper. Simmer gently for just 15 mins.
• Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for about 10 mins then turn out onto a serving board or plate. Remove the baking paper and cut into slices and serve with a little of the tomato sauce.
• To make a vegan nut roast, use an extra tbsp of oil in place of butter, no cheese and 3 tbsp egg replacer. Bake your nut roast for 1 hour. The loaf will still be soft in the middle after cooking.
• It can be cooked in advance and then chilled, sliced and reheated to make it easier to serve.

OATMEAL, FRUIT AND NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Combine oats and buttermilk; mix well and set aside for a few minutes.
• Combine dry ingredients, except for the sugar, and mix well.
• Add brown sugar to oat mixture and mix well, pressing out any lumps.
• Add buttermilk mixture and vanilla to dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Stir in fruit and nuts (if using).
• Put batter into 2 1-lb loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray.
• Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes.
• Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool on wire rack.