Easy-peasy fruitcake

Make-ahead Christmas recipe for 14-16 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has rum, orange, mixed dried fruit, butter, golden caster sugar, egg, ground almonds, plain flour, pecan nuts, candied peel, candied ginger, apricot jam and candied pineapple.

Easy-peasy fruitcake

Easy-peasy fruitcake

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Make-ahead Christmas
Servings

14-16

servings
Prep time

30 mins

Ingredients

  • Egg: 4 eggs
  • Butter: 200g butter, very soft
  • Orange: 1 orange, zested and juiced
  • Plain Flour: 200g plain flour
  • Golden Caster Sugar: 200g golden caster sugar
  • Apricot Jam: apricot jam (warmed and sieved) or apricot glaze
  • Pecan Nuts: 100g pecan nuts or whole skinned almonds, chopped
  • Rum: 4 tbsp rum or brandy
  • Mixed Dried Fruit: 600g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, apricots, cherries, cranberries)
  • Candied Peel: 100g candied peel, chopped
  • Ground Almonds: 50g ground almonds
  • Candied Ginger: 75g crystallised or candied ginger, chopped
  • Candied Pineapple: candied pineapple, candied angelica, glace cherries (a mixture of red, green and yellow if you can find them), crystallised ginger

Directions

  1. Put the rum (or brandy), orange zest and juice and mixed dried fruit in a bowl and stir. Leave to soak overnight.
  2. Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3 1/2 . Double line a 20cm tin with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.Whiskin the eggs one by one, then fold in the almonds and flour. Add a pinch of salt and fold in the soaked fruit mixture (and any remaining liquid in the bowl), along with the nuts, candied peel and ginger. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface.
  3. Bake for 1 hr, then turn the oven down to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and bake for a further 2 hrs. Check the cake to see if it's pulling away from the sides of the tin and feels firm on top. If you need to, keep cooking for a further 15 mins. Cool in the tin. If storing in the tin, wrap the cake tightly first.Will freeze for up to two months.
  4. To decorate, brush the cake with the apricot jam (or glaze) and arrange your choice of candied fruit on top.Will keep in a sealed container for up to three weeks.