Cranberries are now readily available frozen and they make a delicious fruit cake, ideal for afternoon tea, or as a hot pudding if served with custard.

Ingredients

• 3 tblsp warm water
• 4 dried pear halves, diced
• 100 grams butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup buttermilk, or light sour cream
• 1 cup frozen cranberries, defrosted

Streusel Topping

• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup demerara sugar
• 50 grams butter, roughly chopped
• 2 tblsp coconut

Method

1. Pour the warm water over the diced dried pear and leave for about one hour to soften.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold into the creamed mixture, alternatively with the buttermilk or light sour cream. Gently fold in the cranberries and dried pear.
4. To make the streusel topping, place all the ingredients in a small bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
5. Spoon the mixture into a 22 x 11cm baking paper-lined loaf tin. Sprinkle over the streusel topping and bake at 180ºC for 60 minutes until golden bowl and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Alternatively, to make muffins, use the mixture to fill a 12-hold muffin pan lined with paper cases. Sprinkle a little streusel topping over each muffin and bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes until golden brown and the muffins spring back when pressed.