Cake-making always bothered me – they never seemed to rise anything like the pictures in books and magazines! For Ly’s 16th birthday (in May 2008) we decided to experiment with a very healthy cake idea: Vegan, no fat, no sweetener. The result is more like a heavy fruit bread, but very delicious. We kept ours overnight (unfrosted), without any problems. The oven temperature is very much guesswork (as you will understand if you have been to visit our house and the oven in the garden). The smell is like rich, moist fruit cake, but it looks totally different!
You will need:
4 cups dried mixed fruit
¼ cup grated preserved ginger.
2 ½ cups 100% grape juice.
4 tsp. instant yeast.
½ cup grape juice (warm)
3 cups flour (we used white)
½ tsp. salt
Method:
Soak the fruit and ginger in the 2 cups of juice for 3-4 hours or overnight (you could use another kind of fruit juice if you wanted).
Mix in the flour and salt.
Warm the extra juice and sprinkle the yeast on top of it to become active.
Add the yeast mix to the fruit mix.
Allow to rise for 15 mins in a warm place.
Mix again and place in baking tin (we used an ex cookie tin).
Allow to rise 10-15 mins.
Bake in a slow oven for approximately 1-1 ½ hours.
Cool on a wire rack.
Frost (ice) with thickened coconut cream if desired.