My Mum's Fruit Loaf Recipe
Food for me has been a lifelong love affair. A slightly sickly child until the age of 4, I had my appendix removed and suddenly became rather more robust and, with it, discovered an appetite. When I came out of hospital, my mother asked me what I wanted to eat as I had barely eaten a thing in the hospital and I asked for roast chicken and rice pudding. I ate half a chicken and a whole big tin of rice pudding. No mean feat for a four year old. After that, I just didn’t stop.
I got my first job in a restaurant as a waitress when I was 13 years old. I loved everything about the kitchen. Watching the chefs do their veg prep, stuffing succulent joints of meat, making smooth, delicious sauce; I was utterly entranced. To me, it was like heaven. Food for me has never just been fuel. I love planning meals, shopping for ingredients, prepping and cooking and, of course, eating the results. I especially love cooking for others that enjoy food and appreciate flavours and textures and don’t just consume it as quickly as possible without even tasting it.
Luckily, I also had a mother who was a fantastic cook. Born in Paisley in 1933, my mother was a proper old school Scottish cook. They had proper cookery lessons at school back then, along with sewing and knitting. We never had take-aways or ready meals. Our family meals may have been plain but bloody hell, they were good. Of course there were the usual 70’s bizarre concoctions that we look at now and wonder what the hell anyone was thinking – for instance, a pudding consisting of strawberry jelly with strawberries in, topped with strawberry Angel Delight, topped with Dream Topping sprinkled with hundreds and thousands. What a treat eh? There were also budget friendly dishes such as cowboy pie – baked beans with cooked sausages in, topped with mashed potato like some weird beanie cottage pie.
Even with the array of delights she would create, there are two things that to me are the ultimate comfort food from my mother’s kitchen. The first of these is my mum’s soup. The second thing that I will always associate with my mum is her fruit loaf. This was made every single week and there was never a single bit of left.
Full of fruit to give it wonderful sweetness, it is best served with salty butter liberally spread on a thick slice. The best thing is keep it in the oven long enough to make the top slightly crusty so you have a bit of texture to it too. My sister makes this every time we have a family event or picnic and it’s all I can do not to mug her for it as soon as she walks in the door.
It’s deceptively easy to make for something that is so gorgeous. I used to make it for a lovely lady when I was nanny to her three children after she had twins, as it is great for energy and easy to eat when you are bonkers busy with small babies. So much better for you than ultra-processed cereal bars.
Recipe:
200g sultanas
250 ml milk
200g sugar
125g butter
250g self raising flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon – optional
Instructions:
Set the oven to gas mark 4 of 180 degrees.
Put the sultanas, milk, butter and sugar into a saucepan.
Bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
Once it is boiling, take off the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Add the flour and mix well then add the egg and mix again until you have created a smooth consistency and when at rest, small air bubbles will start to appear in the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a greased 1lb loaf tin and put into the preheated over for about an hour. Check after 50 minutes by checking if a knife or skewer comes out clean when inserted.
Allow to cool completely before turning out and then enjoy with lashings of salty butter.
Written by Sarah-Jane
Sarah-Jane lives in Bridgwater with her ancient dog, Daphne. When she isn't tramping along the South West Coast Path with her partner, Simon, she is usually to be found cooking, reading or gardening. How terribly civilised!
