Moist Apricot, Prune and Cherry Cake

The old-fashioned boiled fruit method is easiest for fruit cakes. It also produces a particularly moist cake which stays fresh for weeks or months in an airtight tin, so you can always have some cake ready for tea.

Vary the ingredients as you like; I often add nuts as well as different dried fruits. Nowadays tropical fruits such as mango, papaya and pineapple are available dried, which gives you great scope.