This year autumn has been wet and gray. But these moments of sunshine were not lost. How I just love a warm autumn day, filled with sunshine and golden leaves…
Also, the quieter moments when household chores are kind of finished, and the other obligations can be safely ignored. Just me, and a good book. Bliss.
In the kitchen, soup and stew are making their regular appearance. Among the favourites are sweet corn chowder, cream of chicken (without the cream), roast pumpkin soup and the dainty savory mochi dumpling soup. Oh, did I also mention that I love the hearty barley and vegetable soup, simmered slowly in the slow cooker?
In the sweet department, simple cakes are the stars. We have occasionally enjoyed whole orange syrup cake, banana bread, yoghurt pudding (from lemonpi). That´s quite a lot, isn´t it? Thankfully, we have friends to share the sugar high dosage with.
A lot of the dishes I make these days won´t make it to the blog. Sometimes a quieter enjoyment of a dish without the fuss of styling and photographing is desired.
But this cake is something worth mentioning. It´s so easy to whip up from ingredients in the pantry. Dried fruits and nuts of choice, it is the ultimate `power slice´. What can I say? She, Alice Medrich, never disappoints.
A few more words about a favourite ingredient, Brazilian nuts. They are so versatile, and I like them much better than walnuts in cake recipes. With almonds and pistachios, Brazilian nuts have become a staple ingredients in my pantry. They are so good in pesto and only cost a fraction of the price of pine nuts.
The amount of flour is minimum here, and it´s beautiful. I like to use whole-wheat spelt flour for this loaf. The cake is dairy-free.
Adapted from “Pure Dessert”
3/4 cup whole wheat spelt flour (or all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinammon powder
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup dried apricots, cut in thirds
2 cup quartered moist dates
3 cups Brazilian nuts, coarsly chopped
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 160C. Spray the loaf tin with veg oil spray. Line bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, sugar, cinammon powder, dried fruits and nuts. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla until light. Pour the egg mixture over the dried ingredients, mix well but avoid over mixing. Scrap into the prepared pan.
Bake until the top is golden brown, around 1 hour or so. Cover the loaf with foil if the top is browning too much. Cool in the pan.
The cake keeps at room temperature for several weeks.
I´m sending this cake to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by the lovely Simona from Briciole. For your information on WHB, visit Haalo from Cook almost anything at least once.
Oh this is one of my favourite Medrich recipes. For awhile, I made this at least once a week, often giving them away to friends. So tasty!
I've been looking for a cake like this.I see this in my future as early as this week.
Perfect and so delicious
they do look healthy n brazilian nuts are my favourite too..good idea for them to replace pine nuts in a pesto..have to try that.:)thanx
This looks lovely and energy packed Anh! I haven't really experimented with Brazilian nuts in the kitchen. Thank you for sharing this easy loaf.
That cake looks so good! A healthy treat!
We're just entering summer here — not that I want to wish summer away too quickly, but autumn is actually my favorite time of year!
This bread looks fantastic — the perfect thing to eat for breakfast on the go.
I have to learn to follow direction so I can this little nut cake, my own.
This looks like a perfect healthy snack for any time of the year, really!
This looks lovely! Thanks for sharing
I love fruit cake and this looks truly delicious. Anh, the photos are fantastic especially the first one which features a lone fall leave.
You are so right about Medrich recipes. This fruit cake looks power pack.
I like you description "power slice". Dried fruit and nuts are a great combination. I also like a lot the light in your autumn photos. Thank you so much for participating.
Fruit cake looks great!!
http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com
oooh this look totally packed with delicious nuts and fruit! my favourite
Oh YUM!And healthy as well. Thanks for sharing.
I have made a similar cake in a bar form years ago; I had a hankering for it but lost the recipe; thanks for providing me with a good alternative!
Hurray – a cake that looks genuinely healthy yet naughty at the same time! Good work!
That sounds and looks really scrumptious.. will try it soon. Beautiful pictures.
Wow! Super packed with nuts and dried fruit, looks great!
I like that it is full of nuts and dried fruits
That looks so yummy Anh. I love Brazil nuts too, and here's a geek fact if you don't already know it: they are very slighty radioactive
Sounds like a fantastic cake, Anh, and it looks great too!
Your fruit cake looks so healthy with Brazilian nuts and apricots…love the tartness of the apricots…
I don't think I've ever had a cake with so many nuts in it before. Looks sooo good and worth a try
looks so delicious! my dad would love it! and i have a ton of nuts in my cabinet right now, i should make this!
wow I love the sound of this cake – lately I have been loving some sweet baking that is packed with nutrients as well as a bit of sugar and this looks exactly right for such purposes – your passion for brazil nuts is interesting as I never buy them and am not at all familiar with them
Many things I cook don't make it to the blog either. Sometimes, I just have to eat and I can't be bothered! This cake looks gorgeous and delicious. Thank you!
what a beautiful cake!! I love pure desserts!
Beautiful photos Anh…feels so different to here where the roses are now in abundance, everything green and bright…
sounds so good!! Love Medrich's recipes and Pure dessert!
I like the sound and look of this cake of yours. Never baked with all wheat flour (I don't get spelt here). Brazilian nuts are different from hazelnuts?
I love fruity cakes. I am going to bookmark this. wondering if i could replace the spelt with the regular flour or whole wheat pastry flour. Looks beautiful like a treasure box of jewels!!
I absolutely adore this cake. It looks so chocked full of goodies. I love a good loaf cake, and this one looks as good as it gets.
Oh, this looks great, each slice is really packed with goodies! Seems like the perfect sort of cake for any time of year to me.