Dairy free Cherry and sultana cake

This dairy free Cherry and sultana cake is a favourite in our house - it's the type of cake that's sturdy enough to travel well be it for M's packed lunch or a family picnic. Despite that it's not a dense fruit cake, the type you'd have for Christmas, but a lightly fruited sponge, that stays beautifully moist without being crumbly. It pairs beautifully with a cup of tea and a good gossip with dear friends, and is quick and easy enough to make and give as a gift the same day.

The most important part of the recipe is soaking the sultanas - I save a couple of teabags from my morning cuppas so there's no need to use extra teabags unnecessarily.



Dairy free Cherry and sultana cake
Dairy free, soya free
Serves 10

4oz dairy free spread (I used Pure)
4oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6oz plain flour
12oz sultanas
4oz glace cherries, rinsed and halved
2 teabags

Put 2 teabags in a medium sized bowl and top with the sultanas. Cover in boiling water and leave to stand - you could do overnight, but I tend to pop them in after breakfast and make the cake while the toddler is asleep - so 2-3 hours
Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C
Grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin
In a separate bowl cream the dairy free spread and the sugar until light and fluffy
Add the eggs, one at a time with a large spoonful of flour each time to stop the mixture from curdling
Remove 4 tablespoons of flour and set aside
Sift in the rest of the flour and mix gently to combine
Stir the reserved flour in with the cherries until they're all covered (this helps them not to sink to the bottom of your cake)
Stir the cherries into your cake batter
Pour/ spoon the batter into your greased and floured tin
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour - after 45 minutes, check to make sure that the top hasn't caught - if it's getting too dark, cover it with a double layer of greaseproof paper
Allow to cool for 20 minutes or so in the tin, then transfer it to a cooling rack
Slice and enjoy - it keeps nicely for a few days, but longer than that I don't know as it never lasts that long in this house!