Spiced Tamarillo and Nut Cake

Origin: Argentina      Period: Traditaional

The tamarillo is the wonder food of the moment. This is the fruit of Solanum betaceum a small shrub in the solonacacea (deadly nightshade) family (related to capsicums, potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines). The shrubs are very fruitful and bear fruit in clusters. A single tree in a pot can, over the three month fruiting period, produce more fruit than a single family can consume, so making preserves from the excess fruit is essential. They originate in South America, but with care and if brought indoors in the winter they will survive and bear fruit even in Northern climes. They are grown commercially in New Zealand and Portugal.

This is a rather interesting cake originating in Patagonia which combines Welsh and Spanish baking methods.

Ingredients:

225g dried tamarillos, chopped
230ml boiling water
460g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
330g white sugar
3 eggs
350ml of a light oil (grape-seed oil or olive oil infused with lemon are good)
1 tsp each of powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger
225g of walnuts finely chopped
225g of seedless raisins
grated rind of 1 orange

Method:

Pour the boiling water over the chopped dried tamarillos, add the raisins and orange rind to this and set aside to stand. Next prepare the liquid ingredients by mixing the eggs and oil to a large bowl and beating them all together well. Add the tamarillos, raisins and their seeping water to this and again mix together well. In another bowl mix together the flour, the spices and the sugar. Gently tip this into the bowl containing the liquid ingredients a little at a time, ensuring that each time the flour is properly folded into the oil and water mixture. Finally add the nuts and fold in. If the mixture is too stiff at this point you can add a little milk to slacken it up (however, this recipe is an excellent cake for someone who'se lactose intolerant if you're serving it for someone like this add more oil rather than milk). Bake in an oven pre-heated to 150°C for about 45 minutes.

Read: Recipe Articles and Reviews

More Welsh recipes...

More Recipes from the Americas...

More European recipes...

More recipes for breads, cakes and pastries...

More recipes for Cakes...

More recipes for Fruit...

More recipes for Nuts...

More Baking recipes...

Are any of the terms used here unfamiliar, do you want to translate from British to American cookery terms? If so then this Glossary of US and UK Cookery Terms will help you.

Need to convert any units on this site?

As a guide 1 US cup of flour = 4 1/2 oz = 140g (this applies to breadcrumbs, ground almonds etc
1 US cup of butter/margarine or sugar = 7 oz = 200g

For temperature conversions (Celsius, gas mark, Farenheit) go to the Temperature conversion page.
For mass conversions (grammes, cups, spoons, ounces etc) go to the Mass/Weight conversion page.
For temperature conversions (litres, cups, spoons, fluid ounces etc) go to the Volume conversion page.
You can also see more cookery terms and meanings as well as ingredient descriptions at the Cooks' glossary