Manor House Fruit Cake

Manor House Fruit Cake is a farmhouse old fashioned easy recipe that is one of the most delicious cakes I know. It is packed with sultanas and raisins with just the most golden crumbly sponge sprinkled with demerara sugar and is moreish beyond belief.

Manor House Cake sounds like it was served in the old days in homes probably alongside a very large pot of tea or munched on a picnic blanket by the Famous Five. We cannot be sure of it's origins but for some reason it holds a nostalgic place in the British hearts, perhaps also because a famous cake company has sold this cake for the longest time but it isn't any where near a patch on this homemade version! Cakey fact.

Jump to:

• Reasons to love this cake
• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips
• Other Old Fashioned Cakes
• Manor House Fruit Cake

Reasons to love this cake

• really delicious and terribly moreish
• cupboard ingredients
• economical
• super easy
• crowd pleaser

*There is a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.*

Ingredients

• 225 grams (8oz) self raising flour - or plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder
• 125 grams (4oz) light brown sugar - or caster/demerara/granulated/golden
• 125 grams (4oz) butter or baking spread but not spreadable butter
• 100 grams (3.5oz) dried fruit - I use raisins & sultanas but you can use whatever dried fruit you would like.
• 2 large eggs
• 100mls milk - semi skimmed or full fat
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar - optional but not optional....nothing else gives the toffee crunchiness

Method

• Preheat your oven to 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1
• Line a 7" round cake tin (deep not a sandwich tin) with baking paper or reusable baking liners. You need to do this for the bottom and the sides of the tin. See here how to line a tin.
• Add the 125 grams (4oz) light brown sugar and 125 grams (4oz) butter or baking spread to the mixing bowl

• Using an electric mixer cream the butter & sugar together until the mixture goes slightly pale like the colour of sand on Bournemouth Beach, you get me?
• Add in the 2 eggs, 225 grams (8oz) self raising flour and milk

• And whisk again for a couple of minutes, scraping the bowl down with a spatula a couple of times as you go.

• Add in your dried fruit.

• Mix the fruit through evenly with a spoon or spatula, my favourite bit, you know you're getting close....

• Carefully dollop the cake mix into your lined tin and spread evenly. Chefs dibs mean you get to decide who licks the spoon.
• Sprinkle with demerara sugar for just the best sweet crunchy topping.

• Bake for 1hr and 15 mins approx but check after 65 mins by inserting a knife carefully into the centre to see if it comes out clean without any crumbs.

• Leave to cool in the tin then slice into fabulous crumbly wedges.

Tips

• Make sure you don't over measure the milk or your dried fruit will drop to the bottom in a raisin wedge.
• I don't with this recipe, but you can roll your dried fruit in a bit of flour to help the fruit not sink to the bottom of the cake just in case.
• Take time to level the cake batter evenly before baking
• Don't omit the demerara sugar, I know it's only a couple of tbsp but it really is the icing on the cake. You see what I did there?
• Store in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
• Freeze individual slices of this cake double wrapped in foil or in a stout plastic container.

Other Old Fashioned Cakes

• Lemon Drizzle Cake
• Light Fruit Cake
• Old School Sprinkle Cake
• Old School Jam & Coconut Sponge
• Victoria Sponge
• Easy Ginger Cake