Cakes with Fresh and Dried Fruit

Adding fruit to a cake while it is baking can make for wonderful changes in texture and flavor. The fruit may be dried—as in a fruitcake or the pureed fig filling of a Linzertorte. Or it may be fresh fruit, such as berries melting between a moist buttermilk cake and a crisp crumb topping. When buying fruit for cake baking, choose unblemished and ripe fresh fruit. Taste dried and candied fruit to see that it is sweet and moist—avoid all dried-out or bitter dried or candied fruit.