Fruit Cake - Christmas Cake 1
Fruit Cake with Brandy
Mamta Gupta
This is a lovely cake. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, it is quite easy to make. It will last for a while, if kept in an airtight container or wrapped in cling-film. I sometimes freeze it in smaller portions wrapped in a cling film/aluminium foil.
I am not sure where the recipe originates from, it is one of those recipes that you collect over the years and everyone has a similar version of it! I have tweaked it a bit to suit our taste. I don't ice it, because no one likes icing in our house, they just peel it off and discard it!
This amount makes one deep 8 inch cake or two 7-8 inch round or square standard cakes, as shown in the last picture. When making smaller cakes, reduce cooking time to 2 hours.
Ingredients
230 gm. currants*
230 gm. sultanas*
230 gm. glace cherries*, chopped
115 gm. candied peel*
115 gm. raisins*
115 gm. walnuts*, chopped
115 gm. almonds*, chopped
200 gm. tub of Glace Ginger
125 ml. brandy or Cointreau. Brandy is traditional. I use Cointreau or a mix of both.
230 gm. butter
230 gm. caster sugar
240 gm. brown sugar
5 standard/medium eggs at room temperature and lightly beaten (1 standard egg weighs roughly 53-63 gm.
280 gm. plain, white flour
2 tsp. (5 ml. spoon) baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. almond essence
1/2 tsp. lemon essence
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mixed spice or you can add cinnamon powder
2 tbsp. milk (you can add 1-2 tbsp. more, if the mix looks too stiff.
Instructions
Place all fruit in a bowl and pour brandy/Cointreau. Mix. Leave overnight.
Turn oven on.
Beat butter and caster sugar until creamy/fluffy.
Add and beat in brown sugar until fluffy.
Beat in eggs until fluffy.
Beat in all the essences, salt, mixed spice, milk & baking powder.
Sift in flour and fold it in.
Add fruit mix and fold it in. The end consistency of the mix should be stiff.
