Almond & Rum Fruit Cake (gluten free)

~Almond & Rum fruit cake~

adapted from Taste.com

In a bowl, combine :

2 cups almond meal (can substitute part hazelnut meal)

3/4 teaspoon bicarb soda

2 cups total dried fruit

> we used 1/2 cup dried apricots diced, 1/2 cup prunes diced, 1 cup mixed dried fruit

In a second bowl whisk together with a fork :

3 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

zested rind of 1 orange

1 cap Bundaberg rum

1 tablespoon rice malt syrup

Stir the egg mix through the dry ingredients to combine. Spoon into a baking paper lined loaf tin (8 x 19cm, or thereabouts).

Cover with alfoil and bake at 150 Celcius fan forced for 35 minutes. Take the alfoil off, turn the tin around and bake another 15 minutes. Test with a skewer and if it comes out clean it's cooked.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin 5 minutes or longer.

Cherry Ripe Icecream

We almost ran out of fuel near Peachester, returning from a late summer weekend at the beach, so stopped at a fruit shop for some fresh lychees as a pick-me-up. They also made gelati in yummy flavours and we needed that - the boys chose Cherry Ripe. There was a lot of discussion on the ingredients, so over the following weekends D experimented with making our own and this is the latest, closest version of deliciousness.

~Cherry Ripe Icecream~

1. Make the cherry swirl :
1 kg frozen pitted cherries, cut in half
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tab brandy or choice of liqueur
1 teaspoon gelatine
Heat the cherries, sugar, water and brandy until cherries are cooked. strain off the cherries and reduce the liquid by half. Stir through the gelatine to dissolve and set aside to cool in fridge.

2. When the cherry mix is cold, make the icecream.
Beat the following in a mixmaster until smooth and thickened :
600ml cream
1 tin condensed milk
250g cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3. Fold through the icecream mix :
1 cup dessicated coconut
180g packet Cherry Ripe chocolates, cut into small pieces
168g packet Flake chocolate, crumbled (maybe try grated dark chocolate instead)

4. Swirl the cold cherry mix through the icecream mix.

5. Pour into a container and freeze. Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the top and serve.