Scottish Dundee bundt cake with lemon icing

Not authentic but traditional Scottish Dundee fruit cake topped with a delicious citrus icing!:) Moist, rich and crumbly in texture. “The cake originated in nineteenth-century Scotland, and was originally made as a mass-produced cake by the marmalade company called Keiller’s. Keiller’s marmalade company first mass-produced the cake commercially and have been claimed to be the originators of the term “Dundee cake”. Traditional cake contains almonds, whisky, and the orange peel. The top of the cake is typically decorated with concentric circles of almonds”.

The original recipe used only sultanas and lots of orange peel. Nowdays it’s possible to use any fruit. Better to prepare them in advance.

The dried fruit do the sweetening thing in the cake, as the batter itself is semi-sweet. It absorbs the fruit liquid and gets even more moist. You can replace tea with orange juice or any liquid of your choice. The Dundee cake recipes say that such cake stores well for about 6 weeks (covered with foil or parchment paper), and with time only gets better. My cakes lasted up to 1 week, so there was no chance to check it:) I’ve tried two recipe variations already:) Black Bun remains on the wishing list because of the dried currants I need to find.
Happy baking!:)

Ingredients

Dried fruit mix
100 g mixed peel (or candied orange peel)
100 g black raisins
100 g sultanas
100 g dried pineapple
50 g dried kumquat, chopped
50 g dried apricots, chopped
+ 2 cups water
1 tbsp black tea
1 tbsp plain flour
Cake batter
3/4 cup (150 g) neutral vegetable oil (corn)
1 cup (250 ml) sour cream (15% fat)
1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
3 large eggs
zest of 1 large orange
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/3 cup (60 g) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (120 g) granulated sugar
100 g almond flour
110 g oat flour
60 g buckwheat flour
250 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp lemon juice
Lemon icing
1/2 cup  icing (powdered) sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Steep the black tea in 2 cups of hot boiled water for about 15 minutes (it should be quite strong). Place the dried fruit into a medium bowl and pour over the tea. Leave the fruit for a couple of hours to absorb the liquid, or better overnight. Drain the fruit and combine with 1 tbsp of plain flour before folding into the batter.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Lightly grease and flour Ø23 cm bundt pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the oil, sour cream, sugars and salt. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, continuously whisking. Mix in the milk. Lastly stir in orange zest and fresh grated ginger.

In another large bowl, sift in the oat, buckwheat and plain flours. Add in almond flour, spice and mix everything well. Combine wet and dry ingredients, adding baking soda mixed with lemon juice. The batter should be thick and creamy. Carefully fold in the dried fruit.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake at 150°C for 45 minutes. Then reduce to 100°C and bake another 30 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake: it should come out with a few crumbs. Leave in the half-open oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely and set (minimum 2 hrs).

To make the icing, combine the icing sugar and enough lemon juice to make a smooth paste. Spread the icing onto the cooled cake. Cover with a foil and let the cake set for a day or two. Slice, serve and enjoy!:)

Bon Appétit!

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