Home baking is enjoying a resurgence – it’s official: the WI reports renewed interest in its baking courses, with sales of courses up 60 per cent*; retailers report a dramatic sales increase in baking utensils with one online retailer reported to be selling a biscuit cutter every 15 minutes**. Fruisana Fruit Sugar reports renewed interest in the baking recipes on its website www.fruisana.com And it’s not surprising – the plethora of cookery programmes on TV, foodie websites and our love of cookery books, have shown us how easy and rewarding home baking can be.
The feeling of satisfaction when you take your freshly baked cake from the oven, combined with the delicious smell and the promise of the pleasure to come when you share it with your friends and family takes some beating, and more and more of us are choosing to spend our spare time relaxing this way.
By using Fruisana Fruit Sugar in your baking instead of regular sugar, you will find that the flavours are enhanced. You need use less Fruisana than ordinary sugar and your end result will be more satiating as well as tasty. If you choose foods which have a low Glycaemic Index (GI), there will be minimal impact on raising the blood sugar level, thus reducing those energy peaks and troughs. Fruisana’s GI value (only 19) means longer lasting energy and reduced temptation to snack, because it helps prevent the hunger pangs associated with low blood sugar levels.
Here, fresh from the Fruisana Kitchen, is a simple recipe which is sure to become a firm family favourite – the cardamom adds a lovely spicy flavour and it is fabulous for afternoon tea.
Cardamom Cake
Ingredients:
225g butter, softened
175g Fruisana Fruit Sugar
4 large eggs
150ml natural yogurt
200g self-raising flour, sieved
200g wholemeal self-raising flour, sieved
10 cardamom pods, remove the seeds and grind them in a pestle and mortar
or use 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
175g raisins
100g chocolate chips
Method:
1. Place the butter and Fruisana into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in each egg then beat in the yogurt, fold in the flours and ground cardamom seeds mix thoroughly.
3. Gently stir in the raisins and chocolate chips, place the mixture into a lined 23cm (9inch) round deep cake tin.
4. Bake in a fan oven 160°C, electric oven 180°C or gas oven mark 4 for 1½ – 2 hours until well risen, golden in colour and when tested by placing a skewer in the centre it comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out to cool completely.
And once you have tried this recipe you can experiment with your own. The Fruisana website www.fruisana.com has a host of more recipes and welcomes feedback and recipe suggestions. You can also become a Friend of Fruisana for advance news of events and special promotions.
To obtain a free set of recipe booklets from Fruisana, just phone 0800 279 1114 or email information@fruisana.com
Tags: cake, fruisana, fruit sugar, recipe, tea time
Preparation time: 15 minutes