Sticky Date Loaf Recipe

Assalamu Alaikum!

It's Maryam here this week. Todays recipe is an old favourite of ours and one our mother made often when we were young. It's packed full of delicious dried fruit and of course can be made entirely with wholemeal flour for a healthier, heavier option. So let's begin!

Ingredients:

225g (8 oz) pitted dates, chopped

175g (6 oz) sultanas

110g (4 oz) raisins

110g (4 oz) currents

275g (10 oz) butter

275ml (10 fl oz) water

400g (14 oz) tin condensed milk

150g (5 oz) plain flour

150g (5 oz) wholemeal flour

a pinch of salt

3/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

1 generous tbsp. chunky marmalade

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, 170 degrees Celsius, gas mark 3. Grease and line an 11 inch by 4 1/2 inch loaf tin.

2) Place all the dried fruit in a saucepan, together with the butter, water and condensed milk and bring to the boil. Stir frequently to avoid sticking. Simmer the mixture for 3 minutes and stir occasionally.

3) After simmering, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl to cool (around 30 minutes).

4) While it's cooling, weigh the flours and sift/whisk them into a bowl together with the salt and bicarbonate of soda.

5) When the fruit mixture has cooled stir it into the flour mixture and add a good round tablespoon of marmalade.

6) Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and cover it with some greaseproof paper to prevent the loaf from getting too brown. Be sure to make some hole in the greaseproof paper (about 1 cm in diameter).

7) Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes. After baking let the loaf cool for a few minutes in the tin before turning it out onto a wire rack.

Because we don't have a tin long enough to store the loaf in I wrap ours in foil and it works just as well, and after everyone has had a helping, it's then small enough to store in a tin :).

Alhamdulillah, after all the hard effort we're done and you have a delicious sticky date loaf to have with a nice cup of tea!

This loaf is very filling and our whole family finds that the flavour improves the next day. It can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of weeks, although in our house it rarely makes it past day three!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and that you give it a go someday, insha'Allah. Until next week!

Love and wasalaam,

Maryam