Christmas fruit cake

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Today I want to share a recipe that is a must for a festive table. We'll prepare an aromatic fruit cake that will fill your homes with a pleasant smell of rum and you - with festive spirit.


The fruit cake comes out incredibly fluffy and moist. Rum aroma is easily noticeable not only in the cake itself, but also in soaked, soft sultanas. Add in the flavour of dates, plums or sour cranberries, and you will get a delicious, festive dessert.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (12 x 30 cm loaf tin)

Dried fruit

  • 100 g sultanas
  • 100 ml rum
  • 350 g dried fruit (I'm using 50 g each of dried plums, apricots, cranberries, candied cherries and dates, as well as 100 g candied citrus peel)
  • 1 tbsp flour

Cake

  • 320 g cake flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 200 g unsalted butter
  • 4 eggs at room temperature
  • 150 g icing sugar

Decoration

  • 200 g icing sugar
  • 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Candied citrus peel
  • Candied cherries

Method

  1. Put 100 g sultanas into a small bowl and cover them with 100 ml dark rum. Stir through the contents of the bowl so that sultanas get completely submerged in liquid. Set the bowl aside for sultanas to soak for at least 2 hours, or ideally overnight.
  2. Put 350 g of your favourite dried fruit into a medium bowl. I'm using 50 g each of quartered candied cherries, dry plums, dates, dried apricots and cranberries as well as 100 g candied citrus peel. Add 1 tbsp flour to dry fruit. Stir through the contents of the bowl so that all fruit become coated in flour. This should prevent them from sinking during baking.
  3. Sift 320 g cake flour, 2 tsp baking powder and a small pinch of salt to remove any lumps. Stir them through with a whisk until baking powder gets evenly distributed in flour.
  4. Put 200 g soft butter and 150 g icing sugar into a separate large bowl. Cream them together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Once butter reaches desired texture scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
  5. Start adding 4 large eggs to the butter. Do it one at a time, mixing each egg completely before adding the next one. Once the last egg is added, the batter may look as if it was beginning to split. It is completely normal and there is nothing to worry about.
  6. Add sultanas and rum to the batter. Mix them in with an electric mixer at low speed, only until sultanas are well distributed.
  7. Add dry ingredients to the batter, in three batches, a few spoonfuls at a time. Combine the contents of the bowl with a spatula only until you can no longer see flour in the batter. This will prevent you from overmixing the batter, which will ensure the cake is light and fluffy, not heavy and dense. Add dried fruit together with the last flour batch; stir everything shortly until fruit get evenly distributed in the batter.
  8. Transfer the batter into a greased loaf tin, 12 x 30 cm, lined with baking paper. Even out the top of the cake. If you want, score the top of the cake lengthwise to prevent it from bursting as it bakes.
  9. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C (no fan), for 55 - 65 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. If the cake becomes brown too quickly, you can cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
  10. Take ready cake out of the oven and set it aside in the loaf tin for 15 minutes, to cool slightly. Take it out onto a wire rack then and cool it completely. You can either put the cake into a cool, dark place for two days so that its flavour develops further, or decorate it as soon as it is cool.
  11. Put 200 g icing sugar into a small bowl and add 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir sugar and juice together until smooth, thick icing forms. Ideally, add juice in small portions, 1 spoonful at a time, mixing it in completely after each batch. This way it will be easier to arrive at a correct texture and not get into a continuous spiral of sugar and juice.
  12. Pour icing generously on top of the cake and decorate it with quartered candied cherries and citrus peel. Set the cake aside for a moment for icing to set.
  13. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

  • 386 kcal
  • Carbs: 73 g 
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Protein: 5 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 20 slices)

  • 309 kcal
  • Carbs: 58 g 
  • Fat: 10 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

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