This is my favourite go to recipe for an easy, light Christmas fruit cake recipe. I make a Christmas cake for my grandmother every year, she doesn’t drink alcohol so I soak the fruits in black tea rather than the traditional whiskey or brandy. This recipe is based on and adapted from a Mary Berry recipe for light fruit cake.
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The original Mary Berry fruit cake recipe uses a 8 inch cake tin for a taller cake. I chose a 12 inch cake tin as I prefer a bigger surface to decorate but you could really use any size in between 8-12 inches. To keep things simple, I also chose to decorate my cake with only large discs of marzipan and white fondant icing on the top of the cake rather than covering the sides too. Again, this is totally personal preference to you or the person you’re creating this cake for!
The first steps for this cake is to soak the fruit in hot black tea. I happen to land on Lyon’s Tea in the great Irish tea debate, but other brands will do just as well. I like to soak my fruit overnight but if you’re in a hurry it can be done in about an hour. If you’re not a big tea fan, they can be soaked in orange juice or the traditional whiskey or brandy if you don’t care about keeping it non alcoholic.
My light fruit cake recipe is made with the creaming method, similar to my upside-down plum cake recipe. You take the butter and sugar and beat it till pale and creamy. Next, you’re going to add in the ground almonds and beat well again. Adding the almonds at this stage significantly reduces the risk of your cake batter curdling. A curdled cake batter results in a more dense cake that is likely to not rise as well. You will add in your eggs next, one at a time beating well between each addition. Next, you add your flour, baking powder and spices along with the drained dried fruit that you have tossed in cornflour. Tossing your dried fruit in cornflour before adding to your cake batter helps the fruit stay suspended in the cake and not all sink to the bottom.
As this cake is a little lighter than the traditional cake, meaning it does not contain any dark sugars and is quite light handed on the fruit addition, it doesn’t need quite as much attention to preparing the cake tin as a result. For richer and longer bakes, you would typically line with two sheets of paper at least. As this fruit cake is only in the oven for 90-120 minutes, one layer is fine. To do this, start off by greasing the entire inside of the cake tin and then, using the cake tin as a guide, cut out a circle slightly smaller than the tin. Press this circle into the bottom of the tin. Next, cut a long strip of paper that will leave you with a cake “collar”. This means that the parchment will be taller than the cake tin, by about half, as shown below.
Dried fruit has an awful tendency to burn if any of it is exposed and not fully covered in cake. To combat this, make sure you don’t skip the step where you toss the fruit in cornflour. This step allows the fruit to be evenly dispersed in the cake instead of sinking to the bottom or clumping around the top. Another tip, when you have scraped the batter into the prepared tin, is to smooth it down with wet hands. The water will help the prevent the fruit from burning.
Personally, I prefer using sultanas, raisins and some mixed peel. You can also add in currants or even dried cranberries if you’d like.
Mixed peel is orange and lemon skin that has been chopped and candied. It’s sweet and citrusy and is added to a lot of traditional Irish and UK bakes.
“Feeding” a Christmas cake is a traditional way of preserving the cake for longer. It involves making tiny little holes in the cake once baked and fully cooled and brushing it with alcohol, either brandy or whiskey, every couple of weeks as it matures. Christmas cakes are usually baked weeks, if not months in advance to allow to flavours to mature and develop. Brushing the cake with alcohol like this helps add to the flavour and also helps preserve it. For more information you can check out Bigger Bolder Baking’s Blog Post “How to Feed a Christmas Cake”
I usually use unsweetened black tea in place of whiskey or brandy in these recipes. However, as black tea is not a preservative like alcohol is, I would recommend only brushing this cake once with tea. When the cake is still warm, poke some holes in it. Gently brush over a couple tablespoons of unsweetened brewed black tea. Allow to cool fully before wrapping tightly with cling film or placing into an airtight container.
This recipe does not contain any alcohol. If you followed it exactly and did not add any alcohol in, I would recommend 3-4 weeks max. The cake has a lot of sugar and dried fruit which will help preserve it but it will not last as long as a traditional cake without the alcohol.
Allow to cake to completely cool. Once cold, either tightly wrap with baking parchment followed by tinfoil or clingfilm. You can also place it into an airtight container with some baking paper lining the bottom for easy lifting. Reusing Christmas chocolate tins like Roses or Celebrations can be ideal.
Ensure you store the cake in a dark, cool and dry area. Do not store in the fridge unless absolutely necessary.
For more Cake Recipes, check out my Cake Category, here.
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Tried this today, it's so light and beautiful, so much better than the dense one I made 2 days ago...thank you...finally found a great one