Spicy fruited poppyseed loaf cake

I am one of those people who if I don't have cake in the cupboard I feel unprepared and slightly bereft for some reason. I bake at least once a week and like to ring the changes responding to the seasons and the weather mood, I also enjoy spicy fruity bakes and love trailing new recipes or experimenting with a known recipe by adding sneaky additions. This mildly spicy fruity loaf is such a bake, warming and homely.

Ingredients

• 180g self raising flour
• 90g demerara sugar
• 125g luxury dried mixed fruit
• Pinch of ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp poppyseeds
• 90g butter - melted
• 180g golden syrup
• 1 egg - free range - beaten
• 4 tbsp milk

You will need a 2lb loaf tin, lined

Method

• Pre heat your oven to 160C
• Mix all the dry ingredients in baking bowl
• Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan
• Add the melted butter and syrup mixture to the bowl and mix well
• Now add the egg and the milk to the bowl, stir well
• Pour in to the prepared loaf tin
• Bake 45 minutes approximately, until tested cooked with a skewer
• Leave to cool in tin initially
• Remove from tin and allow to cool fully on a wire rack.

The resultant loaf cake is slightly sticky and moist, it keeps well in an airtight tin and will freeze successfully.