Ingredients

• 175g/6oz ready-to-eat apricots
• each chopped in half
• 175g/6oz cooking apple (1 medium apple)
• cut into 1cm/½in chunks with skins on
• 175g/6oz pecan nuts
• pinch of salt
• 1½ level tsp baking powder
• 2 rounded tsp cinnamon
• 110g/4oz plain flour
• 110g/4oz wholewheat flour
• 110g/4oz butter
• at room temperature
• 175g/6oz soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• beaten
• 3 tbsp milk
• 4 cubes demerara sugar
• roughly crushed
• ¼ level tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• When the oven has preheated
• spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and toast them lightly for about 8 minutes
• using a timer so that you don't forget them.
• After that
• remove them from the oven to a chopping board
• let them cool a bit
• then chop them roughly.
• Meanwhile
• take a large mixing bowl
• sift the salt
• baking powder
• cinnamon and both flours into it
• holding the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing and adding the bran from the sieve. Then simply add all the rest of the ingredients except the fruit and nuts.
• Take an electric hand whisk
• begin to beat the mixture on a slow speed
• then increase the speed to mix everything thoroughly before folding in the apricot
• apples and pecans.
• When it's all mixed add some more milk if necessary to give a mixture that drops easily off a spoon
• then pile the mixture into the tin
• level the top
• sprinkle on the crushed sugar cubes and cinnamon
• and bake in the centre of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours or until the cake feels springy in the centre.
• After that remove it from the oven
• let it cool for about 5 minutes in the tin
• then turn it out on to a wire tray and let it get completely cold before transferring it to a tin. The storage tin may not be needed if there are people around
• as this loaf tends to vanish very quickly.