Rich Fruit Cake

This rich fruit cake is dense, sweet, boozy, and perfect for this Festive Season! Make this cake a month before Christmas, to round out the meal, or to snack on during the days after Christmas.

This particular fruit cake is a variation of the British traditional fruit cake served over Christmas or at weddings. However, because both I and my husband (chief recipe taster) like our fruit cake naked and boozy...there is no icing, marzipan, or fondant in this recipe.

Fruit cake is one of those seriously old recipes that date back to the time of the Roman Empire. Why has this recipe (or versions of a fruit cake) been around for so long? Well, they keep well for a really long time. It's convenient to have foods that have a stable shelf life, especially when you don't have fridges or other sorts of chemicals to keep food shelf-stable for a very long time.

Fruit cakes are made in many cultures across the world - think of the German Stollen, the Italian panettone, or the Polish keks.

If you need a lighter, quicker fruit-based dessert this Christmas, why not try out my Tipsy Tart?

What You Need for this Recipe

Equipment

• For this recipe you will need a large mixing bowl to soak the fruit in brandy, then a really large mixing bowl (about 6 to 7 litres in capacity) to make the cake in.
• A 9"x9" (23cm x 23cm) square cake tin or a 23cm round springform tin with sides about 5cm tall. If your tin doesn't have high sides, don't worry, the baking paper used to bake this cake will heighten the sides of your tin.

Substitutions/Variations

Sultanas, Raisins, and Currents can be substituted for each other, depending on what you have available.

The fruit can be soaked in an equal amount of orange juice or apple juice instead of brandy.

This recipe uses a total of 850 grams of dried fruit...so feel free to substitute these fruits with a Christmas fruit cake mix if feeling a little bit lazy.

This recipe uses a 50-50 mix of brown to white sugar, with a dash of syrup or molasses. I find the mixture of sugars adds sweetness, with the brown sugar and syrup or molasses just adding a hint of depth to the flavor profile.

This cake is plenty sweet and can be made using salted butter, with added salt.

Plain/all-purpose/standard grade flour can be substituted on a 1-to-1 basis for recipes that have ½ to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per 125 grams/1 cups of flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 teaspoon per cup, simply add the extra baking powder to the recipe to make up the difference. Self-raising/rising flours may already contain salt so this may need to be omitted from the recipe as well.

Making the Rich Christmas Fruit Cake

Day 1

Step 1 - Thinly slice the dates and dried apricots, and slice the cherries in half, place them in the large mixing bowl.

Step 2 - Combine all the fruit into a large mixing bowl and pour over ½ cup of brandy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, cling film, or a reusable beeswax wrap cover, and allow it to soak for at least 24 hours. Stir the fruit mixture occasionally.

Day 2

Step 3 - Line the cake tin as follows: 4 x pieces of paper at the bottom, going up the sides, then 4 x paper around the inside of the edge of the tin, and 2 x paper for the top of the cake. See notes for the square and round tin below. Once your tin is lined, set it aside and preheat the oven to 150°C or 130°Fan, the rack in the middle of the oven.

For a square tin - cut out 4 x paper to fit in the bottom, with at least 5cm to go up the sides. Using non-stick spray (to stick the paper to the tin), place these pieces of parchment paper in the tin, alternating the sides of which the paper goes up the tin. Cut out 4 x lengths of paper that will go up the sides of the tin, for my tin the length needed to be about 90cm long and 10cm wide. Using the non-stick spray to help the paper stick, line the sides of the tin. Cut out 2 x pieces of paper to sit on top of the cake while baking.

For the round tin - cut out 4 x paper to fit the bottom of the tin with a 2-5cm overhang. Mark out the round bottom of the paper, and cut slits up to this round to allow the paper to sit in the bottom of the tin with the overhangs going up the side. Fit into the tin using non-stick spray to stick the paper to the tin and itself. Cut 4 x lengths of the perimeter of the tin, about 10 cm wide. Using the non-stick spray to help the paper stick, line the sides of the tin. Cut out 2 x pieces of paper to sit on top of the cake while baking.

Note - after this photograph was taken of the parchment placed on the sides, I then removed the paper and put it in again for a tighter fit along the edges.

Step 4 - Cream together the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, and syrup (molasses) until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined. Add in the vanilla, spices, and salt, and mix through.

Step 5 - Sift in the flour and baking powder into the creamed butter, sugar, and eggs, and mix until you have a thick smooth batter. Add in the chopped nuts and stir through. Place the dough into the prepared tin, and smooth using the back of a spoon or a pallet knife. Cover the top of the cake with the last two pieces of parchment paper, and bake for 2 to 3 hours in the middle rack of the oven. The cake is cooked with a cake tester that comes out clean from the center of the cake.

Note - Check this cake at the 2-hour mark to see how far along the cake is to judge how much longer the cake needs to bake before it's done.

Note - if you notice the sidewalls of parchment paper are too close to the element, trim down the paper so as to not start a fire within the oven.

Step 6 - Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin (about 3 to 5 hours). Pour about ¼ of the brandy over the top of the cake and allow to soak it in. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and remove the parchment paper. Slowly pour ½ of the remaining brandy over the bottom of the cake, allowing it to soak into the cake. Line a cleaned cake tin (or container of choice) with 1-2 layers of parchment paper, flip the cake on the right side up inside this container, and gently and slowly pour the rest of the brandy over the cake, wrap foil over the top of the tin taking care to not touch the cake. Seal the cake in an airtight container and allow it to mature for 2 to 4 weeks. Check on the cake regularly to admire your handy work, and take in the delicious smell of Christmas.

Note - Feeding the Cake: Many recipes call for feeding the cake on a weekly basis. However, you can feed the cake with the brandy all at once, seal the cake up nicely in an airtight container and store it in a dry, dark, cool corner of the pantry (or wherever is best in your house). If you want to feed your cake on a regular basis, simply keep aside half of the brandy that is called for and use this for the weekly feeding.

Week 4

Step 7 - Remove the cake from the tin, slice, and serve. I like my cake with a nice custard, it really compliments the rich flavor of the cake. And I'm pretty sure South Africans are obsessed with custard. Fruit cakes can also be served with cheeses, whipped cream, or even ice cream.

Pro Tips for this Recipe

Soaking the fruit in the brandy (or fruit juice) overnight is an absolute must! This rehydrates the fruit, so that it doesn't absorb moisture out of the cake, and adds to the flavour.

Make this cake a month before Christmas for the ultimate boozy Christmas cake.

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F.

For baking, make sure the oven is fully preheated, and that the rack is in the middle of the oven. Open the oven as little as possible. For best baking results use an oven thermometer.

Remember that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted for your specific oven.

Storage and Freezing

Rich Fruit Cakes or Fruit cakes that contain a fair amount of alcohol can be stored in the pantry, tightly sealed for at least 1 month, and in the fridge for 6 months and can be frozen for up to a year. For long-term storage, I would wrap the cake in paper, then cling film, and then foil before freezing.

The long life of fruit cakes is why they used to be popular for wedding cakes or at least having the top tier of the wedding cake made from fruit cake. This top layer would then be frozen and taken out to enjoy on the first anniversary.