Another loaf cake recipe created with Claude as my assistant. I knew I wanted to ramp up the festive flavours now that December was here.

Richard had his slice served with a dollop of brandy cream. I went for mine on its own. A good effort overall; it has all the great taste of Christmas cake, but in a simple loaf form.

For my future self, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 200g almond flour
• 80g mixed nuts, chopped (combination of walnuts, pecans, and almonds - use roughly equal amounts of each)
• 20g extra nuts for topping
• 150g mixed dried fruit: 50g dates + 50g cranberries + 50g sour cherries, all chopped into small pieces
• 50g dried apricots, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange

Method

  1. Preheat fan oven to 155°C (fan oven) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. Soak all chopped, dried fruits in warm water for 10 minutes if they’re very firm and then drain thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen paper.
  3. Mix almond flour, baking powder, spices and salt in one bowl.
  4. Whisk eggs, olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla and orange zest im another bowl.
  5. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.
  6. Gently fold in the mixed dried fruits and 80g of chopped mixed nuts.
  7. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle remaining nuts on top.
  8. Bake for 40-45 minutes, checking with a toothpick for doneness (it should come out with just a few moist crumbs).
  9. If the top browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last 10-15 minutes.
  10. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.