Aunt Dimity's World
  • Home
  • About Author
    • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Guestbook
  • News
    • Upcoming Events
  • Photo Galleries
    • AD's Furry Friends
    • Reginald's Friends
    • The Bunnies
    • Events >
      • Events Thru 2011
      • Events 2012
      • Events 2013
      • Events 2014
      • Events 2015
      • Events 2016
      • Events 2017
      • Events 2018
      • Events 2019
    • Nancy's Travels >
      • Nancy in Australia
      • Nancy in Colorado
      • Nancy in England
      • Nancy in London 2014
      • Nancy in New Zealand
  • Books 1-10
    • Aunt Dimity's Death
    • AD & the Duke
    • AD's Good Deed
    • Aunt Dimity Digs In
    • AD's Christmas
    • AD Beats the Devil
    • Aunt Dimity: Detective
    • AD Takes a Holiday
    • Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
    • AD & the Next of Kin
  • Books 11-20
    • AD & the Deep Blue Sea
    • Aunt Dimity Goes West
    • AD: Vampire Hunter
    • AD Slays the Dragon
    • AD: Paranormal Detective
    • Aunt Dimity Down Under
    • AD & the Family Tree
    • AD & the Village Witch
    • AD & the Lost Prince
    • AD & the Wishing Well
    • AD & the Summer King
  • Books 21-24
    • AD & the Buried Treasure
    • AD & the Widow's Curse
    • AD & The King's Ransom
    • AD & the Heart of Gold
  • Printable List
  • Recipes 1-10
    • Beth's Oatmeal Cookies
    • Nell's Strawberry Tarts
    • Uncle Tom's Butterscotch
    • Lilian's Lemon Bars
    • Angel Cookies
    • Claire's Lace
    • Pym Sisters' Gingerbread
    • Winnie's Treacle Tart
    • Catchpole's Compote
    • Miss Beacham's Bread
  • Recipes 11-20
    • Sir Percy's Sticky Cake
    • Carrie Vyne's Cookies
    • Charlotte's Biscuits
    • King Wilfred's Cakes
    • Donna's Anzac Biscuits
    • Aunt Dimity's Seed Cake
    • Amelia Thistle's Bread
    • Mama Markov's Cakes
    • Sally Pynes Summer Pudding
    • Harriets Pinwheel Cookies
  • Recipes 21-24
    • Eggless Fruit Cake
    • Minnie's Melting Moments
    • Steve's Apple Crumble
    • Miss Cecilia's Besan Laddoo
  • Aunt Dimity auf Deutsch
  • Aunt Dimity in Japanese
  • Aunt Dimity in the UK
  • Reviews & Interviews
  • Site Map

Eggless Fruit Cake                                                                           Click here for printable recipe

Lightly adapted from the original recipe in the 1941 edition of Rational Recipes by Gertrude Baker.

I'm not absolutely sure that I would recommend trying this recipe.  Like Aunt Dimity, I have reservations about how tasty an eggless fruitcake can be.  Had I lived in England during the Second World War, however, I wouldn't have had a choice.  Eggs were severely rationed and bakers had to make do. 

Rational Recipes by (Mrs.) Gertrude Baker---as her name appears on the title page---is a fascinating collection of recipes compiled "to help busy housewives and mothers of large families to prepare quick, nourishing and appetizing meals" from rationed ingredients available during the war.  To quote further from the book's introduction:  "It is of immediate use as it shows how to carry on in the home under war-time restrictions." Nowadays, the slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" is something of a joke, but the phrase had real meaning during WWII. Food shortages required cooks to use new methods and new ingredients---such as margarine---and cookbooks like Rational Recipes made it easier for them to "carry on." 

​My copy of Rational Recipes belonged to a wonderful woman who lived through the Second World War.  It was given to me by her daughter, an equally wonderful woman and a dear friend. If you're adventurous enough to give "Eggless Fruit Cake" a try, you'll be following in the footsteps of the many brave cooks and bakers who kept calm and carried on during one of the darkest and most difficult periods in history.
Ingredients

    1/2 pound flour
    3 ounces moist brown sugar
    1/4 pound sultanas or currents
    2 ounces mixed peel
    1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
    1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
    Pinch of salt
    Milk to mix
    3 ounces margarine

Method

1. Sieve flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
2. Add mixed spice to dry ingredients.
3. Rub fat into dry ingredients.
4. Add fruit, sugar, and mixed peel to dry ingredients, and     mix with milk.
5. Place mixture in a greased and floured loaf pan.
6. Bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour.  Allow to    
​    cool.

Note to readers who don't know what "mixed spice" and "mixed peel" are: Both can be purchased at a well-stocked British specialty shop.
Picture






Picture
Picture
Picture




Picture

                                                             On sale now!                                 On sale now!
© 2010-2016   Aunt Dimity's World. All Rights Reserved.
Proudly powered by Weebly

Design by DivTag Weebly Themes