Non fussy Rustic Fruit Tea Cake
Sophistication is a boring virtue. A habit we can do away with, once we learn it. Yes just so that we can wear the mask of it, as and when needed & simply throw it in a corner in the unguarded parts of our lives. But make no mistakes, I'm not mixing good habits with sophistication here. After all I want my man to pick my heavy luggage, and not let my soft hands get scratched by it. But then I want to eat my parathas with hands and not with fork and spoon. See I'm drawing a very fine line here.
You know there is a great sense of freedom in these unguarded moments. I'm sure you remember dipping your parle biscuits in your tea and quickly biting it in, before it melts? Or having tea from the plate, when its too hot and you are in a hurry, blowing it all the while? How sophisticated was that? Or drinking straight from the bottle picked from the refrigerator? Or stretching your leg on the centre table or in fact lying on the sofa itself to watch Friends. How sophisticated was that? Who cares??
That's how we like it. Unpretentious, unguarded and ahhh not so boring. And it's commonly said that 'we are what we eat'. So the more and more I see these ultra refined food, I feel sad. Agreed food need to be appetizing but then it shouldn't be visiting beauty parlours before making every appearance on the dining table. It doesn't need to be layered with frostings and sauces and add ons, to make it a gourmet food. After all for that I will visit a five star. At home I want a delicious, simple great tasting food.
And that's why I like food which looks homely, little rustic, a little simple. An endeavor which has been there in all my recipes posted here. Nothing fancy, but very very unguarded. Yes there are days when I feel like a diva, and then I might bake a real sophisticated Frasier. Days when I want to be a charming host and share a Molten Cake or a Peach tart. But rest of the days, I'm a simple mom, in jeans & T shirt without make up.
Just like this rustic tea cake. Nothing exotic about it. In fact straight from the bed, ruffled look. But then there's a great charm in that. Ask your smitten hubby, all about it!! It doesn't need any embellishment, any accessory. Add to this, the fact that it requires only 4 ingredients, no butter, only 1 egg and only 1 bowl to mix. What else does one want?
Rustic Fruit Tea Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1/3 cup brown sugar + 1 tbsp for sprinkling on top
1 1/2 - 2 cups of dried fruits (chopped)
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
Method:
- Place dried fruits in a bowl. Add 150 ml boiling water to it and stir once. Let it stand for an hour at least.
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease the sides of a loaf pan. Keep it aside.
- Now add sugar and egg and mix it very well with a fork.
- Sift flour and add it to the fruits, sugar, egg mixture and mix to combine it well.
- Transfer this batter to the loaf pan. Even the top with a spatula. Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar on top and place it in the oven.
- Bake for about 50 mins or till the skewer comes out clean
- Remove from oven and let it cool for 10 mins, before inverting to remove
- Serve for breakfast or with evening tea
Note: I read somewhere about adding water infused with tea flavour of your choice, maybe lemon tea would be good idea and adding some spices like nutmeg and/or cinnamon to get a level up with actual spiced tea-fruit cake. Maybe need to increase the suagr a bit to counter that. Havn't tried, so can't say much, but sounds good. If you do try, let me know how it was.
Sharing this with Iftar Nights and to my own event -HCC: Lunchbox.
Sharing this with Iftar Nights and to my own event -HCC: Lunchbox.
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