Christmas Fruits Cake - by Joyce Kwek

 

The cake is not ready to consume need to wait till it mature , now n then I still need to sprinkle Brandy over it till near Christmas
during mature period don't need to put in the fridge, but remember to handle the cake with your clean and dry hand whenever you want to pour some brandy on it .

Classis Christmas fruit Cake
For a 23cm Round Cake

Ingredients:
A)
400g currants
250g sultans
250g raisins
300g glace cherries quartered
150g dried apricots, chopped
75g mixed candied peel
¼ cup of brandy

Combine all the fruit and the candied peel in a large bowl. Add the brandy and stir to mix. Cover and leave overnight.

B)
300g butter
300g dark muscovado sugar
5 eggs
300g plain flour
1 tsp ground all-spice
½ tsp grated nutmeg
60g chopped almond
1 tbsp black treacle
Finely grated zest of lemon
Finely grated zest of orange

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 140 deg C. Grease cake tin with butter and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar till the mixture is pale and creamy.
3. Add the egg one at a time mix well and then add in the flour, spices, almonds, black treacle and zests. Beat for 30 sec then add in the soaked mixed fruit. Beat for another 30 sec until well combined.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared cake tin and bake for 2-1/2 to 3 hrs. The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle emerges clean. Leave to cool in the tin
5. When the cake has completely cooled, pierce it all over with a fine skewer and pour over a little brandy.
6. Remove the cake from the tin, but leave the greaseproof paper on. Wrap the cake with foil and store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 month to mature.
7. Unwrap the cake every now and then and spoon some brandy over it before wrapping again.
it took me 2 hrs 45min to bake 

Decorate the Cake before gifting or serving (Optional)

For marzipan and fondant decoration

1 Sheet of marzipan
1 sheet of white fondant
¼ cup apricot jam
Icing sugar of corn flour, for dusting

Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar or corn flour. Roll out and trim a sheet of marzipan to fit the surface of the cake. Brush the apricot jam over the cake’s surface and lay the marzipan over.

Dust your work surface and rolling pin again and this time, roll out a sheet of fondant and trim to fit the cake’s surface. Brush another layer of apricot jam over the layer of marzipan, then lay the fondant over it and smoothen. Decorate as you like.