English Christmas Fruit Cake
English Christmas Fruit Cake
Serves 8-10
Plant Based / Dairy Free
Our take on the traditional English Christmas cake is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! It can be made well in advance, but doesn’t have to. We use Amaretto and brandy to feed the cake, giving it a rich and scented flavour.
Instead of using sugar paste, we wrap it in two layers of luscious marzipan, but this is of course a personal choice.
In terms of decoration, we let our imagination be our guide. This year, we were inspired by some beautiful guinea fowl feathers…
Ingredients
800g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants)
200g natural glacé cherries
400g plant based butter (we use Naturli)
300ml unsweetened soy milk
200ml water
160g soft brown sugar
100ml good quality brandy
60g black treacle
zest of one untaxed orange
1tbsp bicarbonate of soda
225g plain self-raising flour
225g wholemeal self-raising flour
200g pecans, chopped
110g ground almonds
1tbsp mixed spice
1tsp salt
4tbsp Amaretto liqueur
-To feed & decorate:-
2tbsp Amaretto liqueur
2tbsp brandy
2tbsp apricot jam
2 sheets ready-rolled marzipan
Method
Preheat the oven at 160C.
In a large deep saucepan, add the mixed fruit, the glacé cherries, the butter, the soy milk, the water, the sugar, the brandy, the black treacle and the orange zest.
Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Take off the heat and carefully stir in the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will foam and rise, so take care. Spoon in the plain flour, the wholemeal flour, the chopped pecans, the ground almonds, the mixed spice and the salt. You will end up with a heavy thick batter.
Butter and line a 22cm springform tin and tip the batter in it. Level the surface as best you can with a spatula. Wrap a piece of foil around the bottom of the tin to prevent any liquids seeping through. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer piercing the centre comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin before transferring onto a cake stand. Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and drizzle the Amaretto liqueur all over.
Cover the cake with cling film until ready to decorate.
If desired, you can feed the cake with a couple of spoonfuls of brandy and Amaretto, either once a week, or once a day for 3 days if you wish to decorate it sooner rather than later. Always keep it covered.
When ready to decorate the cake, heat the apricot jam with a little water and pass it through a sieve. Using a basting brush, spread the jam evenly all over the cake. Cover the cake with marzipan, sugar paste, or however you like. Decorate it to your hearts desire!
Enjoy!
Notes
The traditional English Christmas cake has been around for centuries. It started off as a plum porridge, eaten on Christmas Eve, to line the stomach after fasting. In the 16th century, the oats were removed and wheat flour, eggs and butter were added to make the cake hold better. They used nuts and dried fruit such as sultanas, raisins and cherries, soaked in brandy or sherry. The more affluent families covered the cake with layers of marzipan and sugar paste. They used spices like cinnamon, mace and nutmeg, to represent the exotic spices brought by the three wise men. The Christmas cake was born.
Today there are many variations of the Christmas cake, depending on location, tradition and personal preference. Most are different takes on the classic fruit cake. It can be boiled or baked, soft, hard, light or dark, and decorated with marzipan, sugar paste, powdered sugar, or plain.
Some like to prepare the cake weeks in advance. They “feed” it by pouring brandy or sherry through small holes in the sponge every week leading up to Christmas, then decorate it closer to date. This makes for a richer, more musky flavour and helps with preserving it for longer.
