Rich Fruit Cake Recipe - Christmas Fruit Cake

This is cake is very rich and flavourful. The taste and smells of the fruits, spices  and alcohol really make this cake a must have during festive season. This can be store for months and the tastes improved as it aged therefore you can make this cake a month or two ahead.

Ingredients:

(A) Dried Fruits & Nuts

250 grams          Raisins
150 grams          Sultanas
150 grams          Apricots, chopped
85   grams          Cranberries
85   grams          Dates
70   grams          Orange peel
70   grams          Glacé cherries, chopped
60   grams          Blanched almond strips
50   grams          Glacé ginger

(B) Soaking Liquid

2 teabag (2 g each)   Earl grey tea
2 cup boiling water
4 tbsp dark rum / sherry / brandy, plus extra for flavouring

(C) Cake batter

227 grams          Unsalted butter, room temperature
227 grams          Muscovado sugar (molasses sugar)
202 grams          Plain Flour
4                         Eggs
1 tsp                   Ground mixed spice

How to do it?

Immerse 2 teabags of Earl Grey in a hot boiling water for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put all the dried fruits in a mixing bowl except the almonds. Mixed well. Pour the tea over the mixed dried fruits and let it cool. Once cooled, put the dried fruit mixture in fridge cover with cling film and let it to soak overnight.

The next day, strain the mixed fruit and reserve the excess liquid. Put the mixed fruit in to the bowl and drizzle in 4 tbsp of liquor (you may skip this step if you like non-alcohol cake). Mix well and let it sit in the bowl for at least 6 hours, overnight is preferable.

Preheat the oven to 140ºC. Grease and line a round deep 8" cake tin.

To make the cake batter, sift  together plain flour and ground mixed spice in a clean and dry mixing bowl. Mix well.

In another large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric hand mixer. Slowly, add in the eggs, one at a time, mix well after each addition. Slowly fold in the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in all the dried fruits, nuts and 1 tbsp of reserved liquid and stir slowly and everything is well combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface, making a  slight depression in the centre with the back of the spoon.

Bake in preheated oven for 2 - 2 3/4 hours, or until the cake is beginning to shrink away from the sides and skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely in the tin.

Turn out the cake and remove the lining paper. To add richer flavour, prick the cake with a skewer and drizzle more liquor over. Wrap in greaseproof  paper, and store for at least one to two month before use. Check the cake every two weeks and add few teaspoons of liquor if the cake is dry.

Notes:

You may differ the fruits mixtures proportions according to your taste.

If you cannot find muscovado/molasses sugar, use soft brown sugar instead.

If you unable to find mixed spice, make it on your own. All you need is ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground clove. Use ratio 2:1:1.

If your cake brown quickly on the top, try cover it with aluminum foil. Depend on the size of your oven, you may need to vary your oven slightly. The temperature given above is base on the oven with the capacity of 50L. If you have bigger oven,  you may increase the oven temperature to
150ºC.

Instead of drizzling liquor, you may soak a cheese cloth with  liquor and wrap it on the cake before storing.

Happy Baking :-)