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BEST! Rich Fruit Cake (With Glazed Fruits)

This rich fruit cake is deliciously moist and looks beautifully decorated with glazed fruits. 
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Cake
Keyword: Christmas Cake, Fruit Cake, Fruitcake, Moist Rich Fruit Cake, Rich Fruitcake
Servings: 8 to 10 slices
Author: kanthi

Equipment

  • 20 cm round cake pan

Ingredients

For Soaked Fruit Mixture

  • 400 g mixed fruit chopped as needed
  • 50 g of candied peel chopped
  • 150 ml of orange juice
  • 2 tbsp of brandy

For the Cake batter

  • 175 g softened butter plus extra for greasing
  • 225 g light brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbsp lemon or orange zest
  • 100 g ground nuts
  • 225 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt

For Glazed Fruit Topping

  • 150 g of dried/candied fruit of your choice
  • 3 tbsp marmalade
  • 1 tbsp orange liqueur or brandy

Instructions

PREPARE THE SOAKED FRUIT

  • Place all the dried fruits and candied peel in a bowl and add brandy and orange juice. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight. You can also prepare the soaked dried fruit a few days or a week ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.

PREPARE THE GLAZED FRUIT

  • Use dried or candied fruits of your choice for making the glazed fruit.
  • Warm the marmalade briefly in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Add orange liqueur and mix well. Mix with the dried/candied fruits. Set aside at room temperature.
  • When you are ready to make and bake the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C with a rack in the lower-center position. Grease and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with parchment paper.

MAKE THE CAKE BATTER

  • Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together lifting the sieve quite high to give the flour a good airing as it goes down.
  • In a large bowl, beat the softened butter on medium-high speed using an electric mixer for about one minute.
  • While adding the sugar in 4 to 5 additions, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, as needed to incorporate any sticky residue.
  • Beat in the eggs one at a time. Make sure the egg is completely incorporated before adding another one but do not beat too long. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, as needed to incorporate any sticky residue. You can add about one tablespoon of flour to prevent the batter from curdling.
  • Stir in the zest and ground nuts and beat briefly.
  • Add two tablespoons of flour to the mixed dried fruit and mix well.
  • Add the flour and soaked fruit along with the liquid alternately gently folding them in with a spatula. Make sure to mix in the soaked fruit to distribute evenly throughout the batter.

BAKE THE CAKE

  • Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Even the surface of the cake with a rubber spatula. Tap the pan on the table once or twice to settle the mixture.
  • Lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for about 60 minutes or until golden brown. Start to test it for doneness after 60 minutes by inserting a skewer into the center. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done and if not, put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so and check again. If the cake looks like it’s browning too much, cover the cake with foil loosely on top and continue baking.
  • Allow the cake to cool in the pan for ten minutes then remove it from the pan, peeloff the lining paper, and cool completely on a wire rack. You can brush themarmalade glaze all over the cake while it is still warm and it’s totally up toyou.

TOP WITH GLAZED FRUIT

  • Before serving, top it with the glazed fruits to give your cake a festive look.

SERVE& ENJOY!

  • Aslice of this fruit cake goes perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee.