Dundee cake

Name: Dundee cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 11 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 100g Almonds; 180g Butter; 180g Muscovado Sugar; Zest of 1 Orange; 3 tbs Apricot Jam; 225g Plain Flour; 1 tsp Baking Powder; 3 Large Eggs; 100g Ground Almonds; 2 tbs Milk; 500g Dried Fruit; 100g Glace Cherry; 2 tsp Caster Sugar

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Serves 11 455 kcal per serving Prep 20 min Cook 1 h 30 min

Ingredients

100g Almonds
180g Butter
180g Muscovado Sugar
Zest of 1 Orange
3 tbs Apricot Jam
225g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
3 Large Eggs
100g Ground Almonds
2 tbs Milk
500g Dried Fruit
100g Glace Cherry
2 tsp Caster Sugar

Instructions

Place the whole almonds in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes, then drain and spread out to dry.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan / Gas 4). Line a deep 20 cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
Beat the softened butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the muscovado sugar and continue beating until pale and fluffy. Stir in the orange zest and apricot jam.
Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. If the mixture starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour mixture.
Stir in the remaining flour and ground almonds, then mix in the milk. Gently fold in the dried fruit and glacé cherries until evenly distributed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Arrange the dried almonds neatly on top in concentric circles, pressing them in lightly.
Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (140°C fan / Gas 3) and bake for a further 60–80 minutes. After 50 minutes, check the cake with a skewer; it should come out with a few moist crumbs attached, as the centre should remain slightly soft.
When the cake is cooked, remove it briefly from the oven. Heat the milk and caster sugar gently in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved. Brush this syrup over the top of the cake, then return it to the oven for 2–3 minutes.
Remove the cake and allow it to cool completely in the tin. Once cold, remove, wrap in foil, and store for at least 2 days before slicing.

Tips

The hallmark of a Dundee cake is the concentric circles of whole blanched almonds arranged on the top before baking.
Use plenty of Seville orange zest or high-quality marmalade to give the cake its signature Scottish citrus tang.
Bake at a low temperature to prevent the almonds from burning before the dense fruitcake is cooked through.

Variations

Whisky Dundee: Soak the dried fruit in a smoky Scotch whisky overnight for a deeper, more traditional flavor.
Nut-Free Top: If you can’t use almonds, garnish with glacé cherries or citrus peel after baking instead.