Best Ever Fruit Cake

THE LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS CAKE

This fruit cake, from Belinda Jeffrey’s book, Mix & Bake, is dense and really moist and has to be the easiest I have ever made, and doesn’t even need an electric mixer. The recipe makes one large 23cm tin, or, as I have done, 3 small/medium tins.

I love that it doesn’t require specific fruits, just a kilo amount.

Yes, there’s a fair bit of alcohol, but don’t be concerned about serving it to children, as it evaporates during the cooking process. It’s just there to add flavour and preserve the cake so it lasts longer.

Ingredients

• 300g unsalted butter
• 420g dark brown sugar
• 1.2kg mixed dried fruits (I use fruits such as raisins, pitted prunes and dates, sultanas, currants, diced apricots)
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup (250ml) dark rum, port or muscat
• 1/2 cup (125ml) water
• 1/2 cup (125ml) cognac
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 1/2 cups (400g) stone-ground wholemeal plain flour
• About 150g pecan halves and 120g whole blanched almonds, for decorating
• Apricot glaze, optional (see below)
• As far as the dried fruit goes; I tend to use whatever happens to be in the pantry at the time – as long as the quantity is roughly the same the cake will be delicious.

Method

1. Place the butter in a saucepan large enough to eventually hold all the cake ingredients and melt it over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir to partially dissolve it so it’s wet and slushy.
2. Meanwhile, slice any large pieces of dried fruit (such as the prunes and dates), into two or three pieces.
3. Tip all the dried fruit, the bicarbonate of soda, rum, port or muscat, water and cognac into the pan with the sugar mixture. Increase the heat to high and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Once it has, stop stirring and bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and let it bubble gently for 4 minutes. You need to keep an eye on it and adjust the heat at this stage, as it froths up considerably because of the bicarbonate of soda.
4. When it’s ready, turn off the heat and leave the mixture to cool in the pan. I often make this in the evening and leave it to cool, covered, overnight.
5. Preheat your oven to 150C.
6. Butter a 23cm x 23cm x 8cm square cake tin (or three 13cm x 13cm x 8cm cake tins) and line the base and sides with a double thickness of buttered baking paper.
7. Add the nutmeg, cinnamon and eggs to the dried fruit mixture and stir them in well.
8. Mix in the flour, then leave the batter to sit for a few minutes. Scrape it into the prepared tin/tins and give it a gentle shake to level the top.
9. Optional. Decorate the top of the cake pecans and almonds
10. Bake the cake for 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 hours (if you are baking smaller cakes, they will take approx. 1 hour and 40 minutes) until it feels firm-ish in the centre when lightly pressed and a fine skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
11. After an hour or so, it’s a good idea to check the top; if it’s a good rich brown cover it loosely with a sheet of foil to stop it getting darker.
12. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin on a rack, then remove it from the tin, wrap it tightly in cling wrap or foil, and store it in the fridge where it will keep well for up to 3 months.
13. Just before serving the cake, brush a little warm apricot glaze over the top, if using.
15. Apricot Glaze…
16. Boil about 1/2 cup of apricot jam or conserve with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes or so until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy (keep an eye on it and stir it regularly so it doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom of the pan).
17. Pour it through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove any bits of apricot skin that may be in it, then brush the hot glaze over the cake and leave it to set.