Fruit Cake (Calabria)

Desserts

Ingredients

Hazelnuts - 1 cup

Almonds - 1/3 cup

Dried figs - 3/4 cup

Bitter chocolate - 3 squares

All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups

Baking powder - 4 tsps

Butter and flour for cake pan

Eggs - 3

Granulated sugar - 2/3 cup

Diced candied peel - 3/4 cup

Toast the hazelnuts in a slow oven (350F) for 10 minutes. Rub off their thin outer skins and chop them roughly. Blanch the almonds in boiling water and peel them. Dry them out in the oven for a few minutes, then shred finely. Chop the figs, discarding any stems, and crush the chocolate. Sift the flour with the baking powder. Grease a 2 pound cake pan with butter and coat it with flour.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar and beat again until white and fluffy. Mix in the nuts, figs, chocolate and peel, and finally beat in the flour lightly but thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in a slow oven (350F) for 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and tests done. Do not open the oven door for the first 30 minutes so that the cake will rise properly. Leave to cool slightly, then turn out on to a rack and allow to become quite cold before serving.