Rich Fruit Cake Recipe
Ingredients
| 250 g / 8 oz each sultanas, currants and raisins | ||
| 125 g / 4 oz mixed peel | ||
| 250 g / 8 02 glace cherries | ||
| 60 g / 2 oz glace pineapple | ||
| 60 g / 2 oz dates | ||
| Brandy | 6 Tablespoon | |
| 250 g / 8 oz butter, softened | ||
| Brown sugar | 1 Cup (16 tbs), firmly packed | |
| Eggs | 5 Small | |
| 60 g / 2 oz dark chocolate, melted | ||
| 1 teaspoon each vanilla and almond essences | ||
| 2 teaspoons glycerin | ||
| Raspberry jam | 2 Tablespoon | |
| Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon | ||
| Plain flour | 2 Cup (16 tbs) | |
| 1 teaspoon each mixed spice and ground ginger | ||
| Salt | 1/4 Teaspoon | |
Directions
1. Place fruit in a bowl, snipping cherries, pineapple and dates into small pieces (a). Toss fruit with brandy. Cover and soak for several days.
2. Grease a 20 cm/8 in round tin. Line the sides with a strip and the base with a circle of brown paper (b). Repeat, using greased greaseproof paper.
3. Beat butter until soft and creamy. Add sugar and beat until dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in chocolate, essences, glycerin, jam and lemon rind and juice. Sift together flour, spice, ginger and salt, add to butter mixture alternately with soaked fruit, ending with flour. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared tin. Lift tin and allow to drop on a flat surface (c) to break up any air bubbles. Bake in a preheated slow oven for 3-3 1/2 hours or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.
5. Drizzle cake with extra brandy. Cool on a wire rack, then turn out of tin. Leave paper on cake, wrap in 2 thicknesses of foil and store in an airtight container. Before serving, unwrap cake, brush top with warmed jam and decorate with nuts and cherries.
2. Grease a 20 cm/8 in round tin. Line the sides with a strip and the base with a circle of brown paper (b). Repeat, using greased greaseproof paper.
3. Beat butter until soft and creamy. Add sugar and beat until dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in chocolate, essences, glycerin, jam and lemon rind and juice. Sift together flour, spice, ginger and salt, add to butter mixture alternately with soaked fruit, ending with flour. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared tin. Lift tin and allow to drop on a flat surface (c) to break up any air bubbles. Bake in a preheated slow oven for 3-3 1/2 hours or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.
5. Drizzle cake with extra brandy. Cool on a wire rack, then turn out of tin. Leave paper on cake, wrap in 2 thicknesses of foil and store in an airtight container. Before serving, unwrap cake, brush top with warmed jam and decorate with nuts and cherries.
Chef
