PEAR, APRICOT AND ALMOND FRUIT CAKE
Preparation time 1¼ hours plus 1 hour standing
Cooking time 2 hours
Makes 20cm round cake or six 10cm round cakes
275g dried pears, finely chopped
125g dried apricots, finely chopped
2 Tbsp crystallised ginger, finely chopped
½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
½ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup rum (or orange or apple juice), plus ¼cup extra, to brush
Melted butter, to grease
1½ cups plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ cup almond meal
250g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
4 free-range eggs
Edible gold leaf and candied pear slices (see recipe, below right), to serve
HONEY ICING
1 Tbsp honey
¼ cup boiling water
3 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
STEP 1 Put dried fruit, ginger, nuts, zest and rum in a large bowl. Stir to combine, cover and stand for 1 hour or overnight.
STEP 2 Preheat oven to 130°C fan-forced (150°C conventional). Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin or six 10cm round cake tins with melted butter and line with baking paper.
STEP 3 Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in almond meal.
STEP 4 In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition. Beat until pale and fluffy.
STEP 5 Add flour mixture and fold in. Fold in fruit mixture (batter will be thick).
STEP 6 Pour batter into large tin or divide between smaller tins. Place on an oven tray (this makes it easier to remove from oven). Bake large tin for 1 hour 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. For smaller tins, bake for 55-60 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into centres comes out clean. Brush hot cakes with extra rum. Let cool completely in tin/s.
STEP 7 To make honey icing, stir honey and boiling water together, then pour into icing sugar, stirring until smooth and glossy. Glaze should be thick but pourable. Spoon icing over cake or cakes, letting it drizzle down sides. Stand for 15 minutes until set. Decorate with gold leaf and candied pear. Serve.
CANDIED PEAR SLICES
Preparation time 20 mins
Cooking time 2 hours
Makes about 14 slices
2 large Packham pears, thinly sliced
1 cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
2 tsp white vinegar
STEP 1 Preheat oven to 100°C fan-forced (120°C conventional). Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Pat pear slices dry with paper towel and arrange in a single layer on trays. Cover with baking paper and top each one with another tray. Bake for 20 minutes until translucent and remove trays and the top sheets of baking paper.
STEP 2 Reduce oven to 70°C fan forced (90°C conventional). Turn pears and bake for a further 60-90 minutes until dried but not browned. Cool.
STEP 3 Put caster sugar, water and vinegar in a saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring, until sugar
