Mincemeat and Marzipan Teabread

Another recipe to use up the Christmas leftovers, but not a speck of chocolate to be found, so no good for a 'We Should Cocoa' challenge! No good for CT either, as it contains butter, but as he's not keen on dried fruit, I don't think he'll worry too much about not being able to eat any.

A simple recipe, and one that is going to vary, depending on the flavours in your mincemeat. Mine was a standard, no frills mincemeat, and the spices were the predominant flavour once the cake was cooked. Criticism from daughter - marzipan chunks were too small - so that's noted for next time. I think I'd add a little more marzipan too - at least 4oz (110g) in total. The loaf is a teabread, so a little on the solid side. It can be buttered before serving, but I didn't think that was necessary - it wasn't too dry to be eaten as it is.

The recipe comes from  Good Food, but isn't available online at the Good Food website, only from a useful, pocket-sized, book titled "101 Cakes and Bakes". A good book for those starting out in baking - I bought it for my daughter when she started showing an interest in cake baking!

Ingredients:

200g SR flour
100g butter
85g light muscovado sugar
85g marzipan, cut into small cubes
2 eggs
300g mincemeat
demerara sugar (or two tablespoons flaked almonds) for sprinkling on top.
icing sugar - optional

Method
Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment, pre-heat oven to 180C.
In a large bowl, rub fat into flour, then stir in the sugar and marzipan cubes.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then mix in the mincemeat to loosen it.
When the mincemeat is well distributed into the eggs, add this mixture to the flour mix and stir until evenly combined.
Transfer to the loaf tin and sprinkle generously with demerara sugar or flaked almonds.
Bake for an hour, or until a probe comes out clean. If you used almonds on top, then you can sift some icing sugar over the cake while it is still hot.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.