Place the water, milk, margarine, fruit, sugar, 5 ml bicarbonate of soda, the salt and nuts in a large saucepan. Simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and allow to cool completely.
Remove the pips from the prunes. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.
Sift together the flour, 5 ml bicarbonate of soda, and the baking powder over the cooled fruits in a bowl.
Add the oat bran, the whole-wheat ProNutro and the grated apple.
Mix gently with a wooden spoon.
Beat the egg and almond essence together, and add to the batter.
Whisk the egg white and fold it into the mixture.
Spoon the batter into a nonstick baking pan (a 30 cm long loaf pan or 15 cm square or round pan), which has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Bake for 2 hours, or until a knife or skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely, then sprinkle with a little brandy (optional)
Store in an airtight container, or cover with foil and store for 2 days in the fridge before eating.
Microwave method:
Place the fruit and the other ingredients listed in step 1 above into a glass bowl and microwave on medium/low for 5-6 minutes.
Follow the recipe above from step 2-8.
Line a microwave pan with a paper towel, and spray with nonstick spray.
Spoon the batter into a pan and microwave for 18-20 minutes. The cake is done when the top is no longer moist.
Remove from the microwave pan and carefully peel off the paper.
Allow to cool completely, then sprinkle with a little brandy (optional).
Store in an airtight container or cover with foil and store for 2 days in the fridge before eating.
Christmas Fruit cake (from Eating for Sustained
Energy 2)
