Rub the butter into the flour in a large baking bowl. Now mix in the yeast, salt and sugar. Stir in the water and mix with your hand to form a fairly smooth dough. You do not need to knead it. Cover with a damp cloth or cling film (plastic wrap) and leave to rest for 2 hours.
Make the Filling
While the dough is fermenting you can weigh out the rest of the ingredients. In a sauce pan slowly melt the butter and sugar together. This mixture will look terrible and split to begin with but keep stirring and it will all come together eventually. Stir in the spices and leave to cool completely.
When the dough has rested remove 3-1/3 cups (14 oz, 400g) of the dough, keep this for the top and bottom layer.
In the mixing bowl incorporate the remaining dough with the sugar, butter and spice mixture with your hand. Again, this takes a while to incorporate but it comes together in the end. Now stir in the fruit.
Lightly grease a standard loaf pan with a bit of butter or flavorless cooking oil.
Roll out the remaining dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to the depth of roughly ½ cm (about ¼ inch). It needs to be big enough to cover the bottom and top. You can use the loaf pan to cut out the right size.
Lay the bottom layer of dough in the pan. Pour in the fruit mixture and flatten this out. Now lay the top over and brush it with a beaten egg.
Bake in a 300°F oven for anything between 2½ to 3 hours. This depends on the efficiency of your oven. A skewer should come out clean when the cake is ready. If the top is browning too much you can cover it with tin foil. Leave to cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing it.
Notes
You can substitute brown sugar for the Muscovado sugar and light molasses for the treacleYou can substitute any combination of dried fruits you wish. I won’t judge…Did you make this recipe? Please share your pictures with the world on your social media…tag @outlandercast (on Instagram and Twitter) and use the hashtag #howtheymadeitoutlander. I can’t wait to see your creations!