Fabulous Fat-Free Fruit Loaf

I've not been doing very well on my diet. Admittedly I've not been trying particularly hard, but I have SUCH a sweet tooth I really struggle. I've been trying to up my exercise levels ~ mainly by walking more, but I also bought a mini-exercise bike for under my desk at work! I get some funny looks when I'm peddling away but hey, I'm used to that ;)

I still need my treats though. And although this cake isn't as low-cal as I would have liked it's packed with fruit and fibre, and absolutely fat-free!

100g dried apricots
100g dried dates / prunes
150g sultanas
60g all-bran cereal
1 cup cold tea (I used earl grey)
3 tbsp. carob syrup (or maple)
1 egg, lightly beaten
150g sr flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp mixed spice
110g dark brown soft sugar
1 apple, peeled and grated

 Chop apricots and dates to roughly the same size as the sultanas. Combine fruit, All-Bran, tea and syrup in a large bowl and set aside for about an hour. Preheat oven to 170C / 340F / Gas 4. Line a 21 X 11 cm loaf tin with greased baking paper. Mix the flour, spices & sugar together. Beat the egg lightly and stir into the fruit, then add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. Add the apple and mix together. You should have a gloopy dropping consistency ~ if the mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in tin for 20 mins or so before removing to a wire rack to cool.

 

 

This is lush as it is, but it's pretty darn good spread with butter too ~ although that kind of defeats the object of a fat-free cake! You can use different kinds of dried fruit if dates and apricots don't float your boat. You can also freeze slices which means there's always some handy for your lunch bag.

 

I've added this to My Fitness Pal for those of you who use it ~ if you cut the loaf into 12 slices there are 196 calories and less than a gram of fat per slice.