Pete's Food Blog

28. Dec, 2021

Christmas fruitcake

Ingredients:

250 g butter (preferably lightly salted)

235 g sugar

4 eggs

315 g plain cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

120 g cocktail cherries + 4 tbl of their liquid

1 dl raisins

100 g chopped candied orange peel

80 g sugared (glacé) cherries

100 g chopped almonds or hazel nuts

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C

Grease and coat a 1,8 l cake tin using semolina or coarse flour (I have always used a cake former with a hole in the middle).

Cut both lots of cherries into halves.

Mix the baking powder with 1 tbl of the flour.

Put 1 dl of the flour in a small bowl and stir in the cherries, candied peel, raisins and nuts; coat thoroughly - this helps the fruit to be dispersed evenly throughout the cake.

Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing each well into the batter.

Blend in the baking powder/flour, then add the remaining flour and mix to an even consistency.

Using a spatula, mix in the fruit and nuts.

Transfer the batter to the cake tin and even it out using the spatula.

Bake for 35 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140°C and cover the cake with foil; bake a further 55 minutes. Finally, remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes longer making sure the top doesn't burn.

Remove from the tin once cooled and wrap in foil.

The cake can be eaten fresh, but it is better if stored for two weeks first in the fridge.