Apparently this loaf is worth a picture .. or so Óli says .. though the taste really should be captured instead since it looks pretty plain and tastes really yummy. In Iceland fruitcakes are special.. sultanas are imported from the UK in boxes of textbooks and school notes posted on the land route .. by truck, by sea for cheapest possible, hope-it-arrives-one-day type price.. glacé cherries are crammed into the corners of suitcases and the small rucksac side pockets of little use that always rip in aeroplanes, self-raising flour is made at home. After some searching I finally found a reliable recipe for self raising flour that produced a quantity of less than 1 stone. Imagine the drama for Christmas cake and Christmas pudding!Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1 cup sultanas (land shipped), 1 cup raisins, 2 level teaspoons of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), 4 ounces (approximately 115g) of margarine (or best Icelandic butter), 2 eggs, 2 cups of self raising flour (or 2 cups of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (yes, more) and 2 and a half teaspoons of cream of tartar, sold in the spice section not the baking section of the supermarket.. imagine how long it took to find that .. 6 whole months without Scottish baking). You can replace the dried fruit with 225g of any dried fruit.
Method:
1. Put all the ingredients except the flour mix and the eggs in a pan*. Boil for 15 minutes. Smells good.
2. Cool then beat in2 eggs and the flour mixture.
3. Mix well until smooth. Spoon or scoop into a greased loaf tin.
4. Bake in a moderate oven (160-180C/gas mark 3-4) for 45 minutes. Length of time may vary depending on oven and size and shape of baking tin.
5. Cut off four slices and freeze for producing later when Kate has forgotten about the loaf and misses home, or for sneaky midnight feasts which you don´t tell Kate about.
* Pan is a pot in Iceland, a frying pan is a pan. Might work, could be messy.
