Fruit Cake Recipe (2 Methods)

If you’re here looking for a simple fruit cake recipe for whichever celebration, don’t worry I’ve got you more than covered. Today I’m sharing the 2 must have fruit cake recipes with you guys.

As soon as December comes around, everybody starts going Christmas mad (whether its food or decorations) and normally people start getting their holiday baking started, often with a fruit cake of some sort. If you wanted to make it a more traditional ‘Christmas cake’, you’d actually bake it in July and feed the cake with alcohol until you intend on serving it, however, if you’re like most people you’ll just make one in the nick of time and that’s fine.

The cakes doesn’t have to contain alcohol, so if you can’t or don’t want to use it – leave it out and feel free to make your cake closer to the occasion. If you do use the alcohol, it’s best to stick to darker coloured spirits like dark rum, brandy, whiskey or sherry.

Either of these cake recipes can be made for Christmas cakes, Simnel cake or for birthday/wedding cakes.

Anyway, here is method one –

Ingredients:

225g Currants.

70g Sultanas.

70g Raisins.

85g Glace cherries, halved or quartered.

70g Mixed peel.

50g Almonds (ground, nibbed or flaked will work well).

175g Plain flour.

3 tsp Ground cinnamon.

2 tsp Ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp Ground ginger.

1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg.

1/2 tsp Ground allspice.

1/2 tsp Ground  cloves.

150g Butter.

150g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

5g Black treacle.

Method:

• Do some prep work ahead of starting. Weigh up all your ingredients into bowls (there are a few different bits here’s helps save confusion later on, plus it eliminates the chances of making a measuring mistake), preheating your oven to 150˚c/300˚f and lining your cake tins with some parchment paper – set them aside until later on.
• To start your cake, place the butter, light brown sugar  and black treacle into your mixing bowl and beat them together until they are well combines. You are not looking for light and fluffy with this mix.

• Add in your eggs, one at a time beating well in-between each addition.

• Once the eggs have been fully incorporated, give your bowl a good scraping down. This is to help incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.
• Sieve in your flour and spices together, straight into the bowl. combine the butter mixture with the dry ingredients just until they are combined.

• Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl again.
• Add the currants, sultana’s, raisins, glacé cherries, mixed peel and almonds and mix to incorporate – just mix until the fruit is equally distributed throughout the cake batter.

• Scrape down the bowl again, just to work those last few bits in.
• Divide the cake batter between the two 6 inch cake tins that you prepared earlier on.

• Place the cake tins into the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes (your oven may require more or less time, all ovens are different).
• Once the cakes are fully baked and out the oven, allow them to cool in the tins for a short while before transferring them to cooling racks where they can cool completely.

• Once fully cooled, feel free to pour over a small amount of alcohol (up to 45ml) then wrap the cakes in clingfilm/plastic wrap and feed once a week with the same amount of alcohol until you serve it.

This is much more similar to a traditional fruit cake recipe you’d see round Christmas time, it’s not exactly traditional but hey, who’ll notice?

 

Here is method two –

Method two is completely different, it doesn’t require you to use the creaming method (where you beat together the butter and sugar, then incorporate the eggs).

Ingredients:

300ml water.

110g Butter.

140g Light brown sugar.

170g Sultana’s.

170g Currants.

3 tsp Ground mixed spice.

2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1/2 tsp Ground ginger.

1/4 tsp Ground cloves.

Method:

• Do some prep work to save faffing around later. Weigh up all your ingredients into small bowls, preheat your oven to 150˚c/300˚f and line two 6 inch cake tins with parchment paper.
• To start on the cake, you’ll want to get yourself a medium saucepan and place the water, butter, light brown sugar, fruit and the spices into it.

• Place the saucepan on the hob over a medium-high heat, until everything is melted and has come together. Stir continuously once everything starts to melt. Once melted, take off the heat and allow to cool for around 10 minutes.
• Once the mixture has cooled down, add in your flour and bicarbonate of soda, passing it through a sieve first. Then mix until they are fully worked in.

• Then add in your egg, mix that in until it’s fully worked in.
• Divide the cake batter between your lined cake tins, you can do this by weighing the cake batter out, then dividing it by two. This method is much more accurate, as long as you’re using digital scales. The other method is to simply eye ball the amount you’re putting into each tin, if you’re feeling more confident.

• Place in the preheated oven and bake for around 40-45 (but check yours anytime after 40 as they may need more or less time).
• Once out the oven and fully baked, allow to cool in the cake tin for a short while, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

• Once cooled, you can pour over a small amount of alcohol (up to 45ml) then wrap them up in clingfilm/plastic wrap and feed once a week with the same amount of alcohol until you intend on using the cake.

So, I hope you have enjoyed this blog post, I will leave the video tutorial down below, if you’re interested checking it out!