Westmorland Pepper Cake
If you have never tried adding pepper to a sweet dish
before now, you will be pleasantly surprised by its effect.
It adds unusual spiciness to what is otherwise a fairly
standard fruitcake and is just one example of the huge
variety of fruit cake recipes that come from this part of
the world. Makes 8 slices.
INGREDIENTS:
Raisins - 75 g (3 oz),
Currants - 75g (3 oz),
Caster sugar - 110 g (4 oz),
Butter - 75g (3 oz),
Water - 150 ml (* pint),
Self-raising flour - 225 g (8 oz),
Ground ginger - * tsp,
Ground cloves - large pinch,
Finely ground black pepper - * tsp,
Milk - 4 tbsp,
Egg - 1 beaten.
COOKING:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4.
Grease the base of a deep 18 cm (7 inch) cake tin and
line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the fruit, sugar, butter and water in a saucepan
and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then
leave to cool slightly. Put the flour, spices and pepper
in a bowl and gently stir in the fruit mixture, milk and
the egg. Mix thoroughly without beating.
3. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake
for about 50 minutes or until firm to the touch and
golden brown. Turn out and leave to cool on a wire
rack.