This recipe is brimming with fruit and flavour (and lots of nutritional content too if you ignore the sugar!). Ideal for a mid-morning snack or afternoon tea break, it is a great way to use up nuts and dried fruit you have lying around in your cupboard. If you don’t want to eat it all in one week, cut the loaf into slices and place it in the freezer, then defrost individual pieces as and when needed.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cook: 45-55 minutes

Ingredients

150g chopped dates

75g chopped walnuts (or any other nuts you have, such as pecans and hazelnuts)

100g dried chopped figs

110g unsalted butter

60g brown sugar

170g self raising flour (if you only have plain flour, add 1½ tsp of baking powder)

236ml boiling water

Equipment

1 cake tin

1 whisk 

1 bowl

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃.

2. Grease and flour a loaf tin approximately 15 x 30cm (you don’t have to stick to this, you can use muffin tins or a round cake tin).

3. In a bowl, combine the dates, figs and butter. Pour in the boiling water and let it stand for 15 minutes.

4. Beat the sugar, walnuts and eggs into the date mixture using a whisk. Add the flour to the batter and mix until blended. 

5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre. 

6. Serve sliced as part of a delicious afternoon tea.

The finished product!

Written by Rosanna Christou

Instagram