I apologise for putting two similar recipes up in quick succession, but if you’re going to make these, then you’ll need to do it soon, or they won’t have time to mature and develop before Christmas.
I normally bake a large 25cm/10″ square fruitcake every Christmas. It has a lovely, rich flavour and keeps brilliantly for months – we’ve just finished eating one that I made in March. We always store our fruitcakes in the fridge, as we find they keep and cut better cold, although it’s best to let the slices return to room temperature before serving.
This year, as I had the mini loaf tins out for the Fruit and Nut Cakes, I decided to use those instead. These small, richly flavoured fruitcakes (yes, we’ve eaten one already) are a perfect size for gift giving.
Our cakes are based on an old recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly, which has been used extensively by home bakers since 1937. It’s fabulously reliable, and we’ve had consistent results with it for nearly twenty years (and baked several hundred cakes in the process, I might add). It will make one deep 25cm square cake, or one deep 28cm round cake, or two deep 20cm square cakes, or eight to nine 15 x 8cm mini cakes. I’m sure you could bake it in other tins as well – just be aware that your baking times will vary depending on the size of your cakes, so make sure you don’t overcook them.
Some notes on ingredients:
1. We vary the fruit mix from time to time, depending on what we have on hand. The recipe is quite flexible, and there’s no problem with substituting extra dried fruit in place of the glacé cherries and mixed peel if desired. However, if you substitute fruit for the almonds, you’ll end up with a cake which is a little too sweet (at least for our tastes).
2. I’ve used cumquat jelly when we’ve run out of marmalade, but don’t be tempted to substitute a sweet jam instead. You need the slight hint of bitterness to balance out the cake. The original recipe specifies 1 Tbsp of grated orange rind, but I’ve never included that.
Women’s Weekly Prize Winning Fruit Cake
(the original recipe is here)
- 500g (3 & 1/4 cups) sultanas
- 500g (3 & 1/4 cups) currants
- 250g (1 & 1/2 cups) chopped raisins
- 125g (2/3 up) glacé cherries, halved
- 60g (1/3 cup) mixed peel
- 185g (1 & 1/2 cups) slivered almonds
- 1/3 cup Seville orange marmalade or cumquat jelly
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup brandy
- 500g (2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 420g (2 cups) brown sugar, firmly packed
- 8 large (59g) chicken eggs, or 6 large duck eggs
- 450g (3 cups) plain flour
- 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
- glacé fruit and blanched almonds for decoration
- extra brandy for finishing
1. In a very large bowl (I use a big Corningware casserole with lid), place the dried fruits, cherries, peel and almonds. Add the lemon juice, brandy, lemon rind and marmalade, and give the mixture a good stir. Cover and leave overnight or for up to one week.
2. The following day, in another large bowl and using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar until just combined. Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each addition, again until just combined. The mixture may curdle slightly (I’ve found it’s less likely to do so with duck eggs than regular eggs), but fear not, as it will smooth out once the flour is added.
3. In a separate bowl, measure out the plain and self-raising flour now, as your hands are about to get very dirty. Preheat the oven to 150C (with fan). Spray nine non-stick mini loaf tins (15 x 8cm) with oil, and line their bases with parchment paper.
4. Tip the butter and egg mix into the fruit mix, or vice versa, depending on which bowl is bigger. Now, with really clean hands, squish the batter and fruit together until well combined. You could probably do this with a wooden spoon, but it’s such a large mixture that hands are just easier.
5. Add half the flour (two cups worth) and work it through with your hands, then add the remaining two cups of flour. Mix really well and make sure there are no large clumps of flour or fruit. Scrape off your hands and wash them for the next step – now wasn’t that fun? I think this is my all time favourite part of Christmas cooking.
6. Spoon the mixture evenly into the tins, filling them to ¾ full. Smooth out the tops. Decorate the cakes with glacé fruits and blanched almonds.
7. Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 1 – 1¼ hours. The cakes are cooked when a thin bladed knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove the cakes from the oven and, while they’re still hot, brush over liberally with brandy. Cover the tops of each cake with foil, stand them side by side, then wrap a tea towel around them and allow to cool completely overnight. The aim is to cool them as slowly as possible, to give the brandy a chance to soak in.
The following day, carefully loosen around the edges with a butter knife and turn out the cakes. Wrap them in two layers of foil, and store in the fridge until needed. Try to resist eating them straight away! I failed, but the advantage of eight mini cakes is that you still have seven left…
Note: You could, of course, bake this recipe as a large square or round cake. If you’re going to do that, make sure you grease and line your tin carefully, bringing up the paper at least 5cm above the top of the pan, to protect the cake during the cooking process. And despite what the original recipe says, I’ve never needed five hours to cook this cake in a fan forced oven – from memory, it’s usually about 2½ – 3 hours (I think the fan dries the cake out more quickly).
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Please see our Christmas page for more gift ideas!
Ah they are just very pretty … they would nearly get me eating Christmas cake. sorry but I do not like christmas cake or pud at all :-( However I am loving browsing thru all the recipes in Australian Women’s Weekly. It’s like getting a new cookbook!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the Weekly, Gillian. They’re a little out of vogue these days, but they really do have the most reliable recipes. Shame you don’t like Christmas cake – we have friends who don’t like dried fruit either, so they always get chocolate cookies each year. Every year I use some excess pudding to make Christmas truffles – crumbled fruit cake or pudding mixed with white chocolate ganache and rum, then dipped in dark choc. Wickedly yum.. :)
I am off to find some of the mini loaf pans. This is the perfect little Christmas gift for teachers and neighbors. And sooooo Aussie. Just perfect. Thanks C. Luv ya work.
Here you go, Dan, found them at Amazon..
you can find them at http://www.worldkitchen.com.au under the brand bakers delight they have a shop in Alexandria and all other states. Burkinhead point too I think
Mini loaf pans are my dream. Yesterday I went shopping at lunchtime and looked for them….in vain! Lovely looking cakes….I am thinking seriously about making them…give me a 28 hour day please!
Oz, found some at amazon.co.uk if that helps – you might like these silicone ones (I know you’re a fan.. :))
I am beginning to feel restive, is that the right word, I think I will have to make the cake(s) soon. I am always late with things like this.
We have a day called stir up Sunday which is something to do with making the christmas pudding, I think it is 22nd November this year, do you do that too? I made the family’s cakes last year for the first time ever; for the last 20 years or so it has been my step mother who made them and the puds and she would post them out to all her children and to us her steppies. No nuts for one daughter, one without nutmeg for another, some with marzipan, some with icing…
Your cakes look deliciously fruity… I don’t know where to get green glace cherries, but I will keep my eyes open. And will show this recipe to B who is the fruit cake king!
Jo, my friend Dot was telling me about their tradition, which is that everyone stirs the pudding and makes a wish! We’ve never been big on puddings, although Pete did grow up eating them. We’ve always been more of a fruitcake family. Do you put coins in your puddings?
The green glace cherries are actually from France, so you should be able to get them in the UK.
They look ssssooo cute! And delicious too!
Thanks Karine! They’re a little too delicious – I’m halfway through my second one! Will have to make more for Christmas…sigh.. :)
ok Celia
got the Chrissy cake happening…mixed fruits soaking in brandy….my issue is a gas oven which always tends to burn the bottom of cakes badly…maybe the paper will help, thanks for the recipe…or bringing it back in vogue i should say.
ps..i found some of those small cake tins at the kitchen shop in Norton Plaza….and cheap at $7 a tin.
Monica
Mon, the cakes are baked at a pretty low temp, so hopefully burning won’t be an issue. Thanks for the headsup about the tins!
Celia
now i know why it’s a “prize winning” recipe. Celia already knows this but for everyone else out there contemplating this fabulous Christmas cake — i can say “it works”. I am not any kind of cook…never made a cake that hasn’t come out of a packet. In my life!! but i followed the rules….let my fruit soak for a full week, turning daily…and then on heatwave Sunday — when it was 40C outside…with the air con on…i started baking…. i got 4 littlies and 1 biggie out of the mixture….which is not bad….so i sit here munching away….thinking maybe the diet could start AFTER Christmas now.
Happy baking all.
Monica
Soooo glad it worked well, Mon! Thanks for letting us know!
Celia
I think I said a month ago I would bake these – THEY”RE IN THE OVEN NOW! I have been a bit distracted with the panettone and the dundee cake. So much cake, so few days to Christmas. I’ve just been told I have house guests coming too, so rushed to the butcher to order a goose…. any excuse for a feast!
Yaay! Let us know how you go, Jo! :)
Hi Celia, am assuming the 1 1/4 hours cooking time is for a fan forced oven so what would be the approx time for a regular oven? Also, as 8-9 pans cannot fit on one rack is it necessary to swap the racks, say, half way through cooking, and cook for longer? These questions from a non/novice baker. Thanks, Jen.
Jen, yes the cooking time is for a fan forced oven. I’ve never cooked the mini cakes in a non-fan forced oven, but I do think it will take a longer, possibly quite a bit longer. In a non fan oven, I would rotate the pans halfway through cooking to ensure they bake evenly. I hope they work out well for you! :)
Thank you Celia for quick reply, expect to bake in a day or two when fruit well and truly ‘soaked.’