Dark English fruitcake

[Mette]

Dark english fruit cake

This is the traditional rich dark fruit cake I make every year for christmas, as well as a couple of times during the year - even had it in three tiers for our wedding. It is very dark and intense in flavour.

The fruity ingredients can be substituted quite freely, as long as the final weight of fruit comes to app. the same weight as in the recipe. Try adding dried, diced apricots or figs. I'm sure dried cherries or cranberries would be nice as well. Almond flakes could be replaced by coarsly chopped walnuts. And so on and so forth. The sky is the limit. If using alcohol is not an option, substitute the brandy with orange juice.

If you can get hold of natural glace cherries (the very dark red ones) they are preferable to the nasty red/green ones. And whole candied orange and lemon peel that you dice yourself makes a lot of difference to the overall flavour. I add quite a lot more peel than in the recipe when I have access to whole peel.

• 325 g raisins
  
• 225 g sultanas
  
• 175 g currants
  
• 150 g halved glacé cherries
  
• 50 g mixed peel (go for whole candied peel that you chop yourself)
  
• 50 g flaked almonds
  
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind
  
• 2 T lemon juice
  
• 3 T brandy or rum (I use a lot more)
  
• 250 g flour
  
• 2-1/2 tsp mixed spice
  
• 65 g ground almonds
  
• 200 g dark brown sugar
  
• 200 g butter, softened
  
• 2 T black treacle (or molasses)
  
• 4 eggs
  

The day before baking (or several days or weeks before) place the raisins, currants, sultanas, peel, glacé cherries, flaked almonds, lemon juice, lemon rind and alcohol in a bowl, mix and cover until needed. The longer the soaking, the more alcohol is needed.

Mix the remaining ingredients and beat with a spoon for a couple of minutes until the batter is smooth.

Spoon batter over fruit and stir until everything is well blended.

Spoon the mixture into a 22 cm springform tin lined bottom and sides with waxed paper. Smooth the surface.

Bake for 3-3½ hours in a 140 c. oven. The cake should feel firm and a wooden skewer should come out clean.

Let the cake cool in the tin. Do not remove the linig paper when removing the cake from the tin. Spoon 1-2 spoonfuls of brandy/rum over the cake and wrap in double foil to store. 'Feed' the cake every 2 weeks with a spoonful og rum brandy. Keeps for up to three months (in our house nowhere near that long.......)

Can be eaten as is with a nice cup of tea, or brushed with heated, sieved apricot jam (or marmalade) and covered with marcipan and royal icing or rolled fondant. The marcipan layer prevents dark discolouration from the cake seeping through the icing.

Keywords: Easy, Christmas, Fruit, Cake, British

( RG1396 )