Hello everybody, it’s Drew, welcome to my recipe page. Today, we’re going to make a distinctive dish, xmas fruit cake. One of my favorites. This time, I’m gonna make it a bit unique. This will be really delicious.
Method The day before you intend to bake the cake, measure out the brandy and port, into a large saucepan. Then add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, dried fruits, mixed peel, nuts and zest's. Then line the bottom and sides with baking parchment. The baking parchment should come up higher than the top of the tin.
Xmas Fruit Cake is one of the most favored of current trending meals in the world. It’s appreciated by millions every day. It’s simple, it’s fast, it tastes yummy. Xmas Fruit Cake is something that I have loved my whole life. They are nice and they look fantastic.
To get started with this recipe, we must first prepare a few components. You can have xmas fruit cake using 38 ingredients and 22 steps. Here is how you cook it.
The ingredients needed to make Xmas Fruit Cake:
- Prepare Fruits:
- Prepare Dried Fruits Mix Preferably Foodsterr,
- Prepare Dates Pitted Quartered,
- Make ready Glazed Cherries Halved,
- Take Crystallized Ginger Quartered,
- Prepare Cointreau / Brandy / Dark Rum, 180ml + More For Feeding
- Prepare Cake:
- Prepare Unsalted Butter Softened, 138g + More For Greasing
- Prepare Light Muscovado Sugar,
- Make ready Demerara Sugar,
- Make ready Eggs,
- Get Almond Meal,
- Take Fresh Orange Zest, 1 Orange
- Make ready Ground Cloves,
- Make ready Ground Cinnamon,
- Make ready Nutmeg Freshly Grated,
- Make ready All Spice Powder,
- Prepare Unbleached All Purpose Flour,
- Take Roasted Hazelnuts Halved,
- Make ready Roasted Walnuts Quartered,
- Make ready Gingerbread Houses:
- Take Unbleached All Purpose Flour,
- Get Baking Powder,
- Prepare Demerara Sugar,
- Get Sea Salt,
- Get All Spice Powder,
- Prepare Unsalted Butter Cubed,
- Make ready Pure Honey,
- Get Blackstrap Molasses,
- Get Egg,
- Take Royal Icing:
- Get Egg White,
- Get Cream of Tartar,
- Get Icing Sugar,
- Prepare Decor:
- Get Apricot Jam
- Get Marzipan
- Make ready Edible Glisters
The fruit is soaked in either apple juice OR a combination of apple juice and brandy (for those who like boozy Christmas Cake). Stir in the nuts and the soaked fruit with any soaking liquid. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Level the top and cover with a disc of baking paper.
Steps to make Xmas Fruit Cake:
- Soaking the fruits. - - Transfer everything into a large bowl. - - Toss to mix well. - - Cover with cling film and set aside in a cool and dry place for at least 24 hrs.
- Prepare the cake. - - Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius or 300 fahrenheit. - - Grease cake pan with butter. - - Lay parchment paper on the bottom and the sides of the cake pan.
- Cut out a large piece of aluminium foil. - - Fold the foil into a strap with a width almost the same as your cake pan. - - Wrap the cake pan with that folded foil and tied it tightly with a thread. - - This is to allow even browning.
- In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy with a hand or stand mixer. - - Add in sugar and cream until well combined. - - Add in eggs and continue whisking.
- Add in almond meal, orange zest and the spices. - - You can make your own almond meal by grinding almond in a spice blender. - - Continue whisking until well combined. - - Fold in the flour with a spatula 1/3 portion at a time until fully incorporated.
- Next, fold in the nuts. - - Lastly, the dried fruits mix with any leftover alcohol. - - Transfer into the cake pan. - - Using an offset spatula to level the top.
- Wack into the oven and bake for 2 to 3 hrs. - - Check regularly after the 1 hr mark. - - The internal temperature should read 90 degree celsius or 200 fahrenheit. - - The cake should also pass a skewer test.
- You should have a dark brown color on the cake. - - Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely before unmolding about 5 hrs. - - Once the cake is completely cooled, unmold and transfer onto surface lined with cling film. - - Poke a few holes on the cake with a skewer.
- Feed the cake with 1 TBSP of Cointreau or any liqueur of your choice. - - Cover and wrap the cake with parchment paper. - - You can store the cake for a couple of months in a cool and dry place. The flavors will intensify.
- Feed the cake once every week, - - Feeding the cake will keep the cake moist and dense. - - Making gingerbread houses. - - In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and all spice well.
- Add in the butter. - - You can cream everything together with a fork, but I prefer using my hands. - - You should get a crumbly mixture resembling wet sand. - - Add in honey, molasses and egg.
- Mix until it comes together into a dough. - - Wrap it with cling film and chill in the fridge for about 1 hr. - - Remove from fridge and divide the dough into half. - - You can freeze the other half. It will last for 3 months.
- Transfer the dough onto a parchment paper. - - Place another parchment paper over the dough. - - Roll the dough into a large rectangle with a thickness of 1/8 inch. - - Freeze the dough for 30 mins.
- Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius or 360 fahrenheit. - - I measured the circumference of my cake which reads 64cm. - - So I divided 64 into 8 = 8cm. Each house is 8cm in width. - - I also measured the height of my cake with is about 4cm. So, each house will be more than 4cm in height.
- I use cupboard to draw and design the houses. - - After 30 mins, remove the dough from the freezer. - - The dough should be big enuff for all the houses. - - Place another baking tray on top of the dough.
- Wack into the oven and bake for 12 mins. - - Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly. - - Place the houses onto the gingerbread and using a sharp knife and cut out the houses. - - Transfer the houses onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Wack into the oven and bake for another 10 to 12 mins or until deep brownish. - - Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely. - - Prepare the royal icing. - - In a large bowl, add in egg whites and cream of tartar.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk until stiff peaks. - - Add in icing sugar, 1 tbsp at at a time, while still whisking. - - Once it gets thick, shiny and glossy, stop adding the sugar. - - You should have a honey-syrupy consistency, but not runny and not too thick.
- Transfer into a piping bag with a small circle tip. - - Pipe the designs on the gingerbread. - - Get artsy! - - The royal icing will harden overtime. - - You can freeze any remaining royal icing for up to 1 month.
- Assemble the cake. - - Brush the whole cake lightly with apricot jam. - - Transfer the fruit cake on a cake stand or a serving plate.
- Pipe some more royal icing on the back of the gingerbread houses. This will act as a glue. - - Stick the gingerbread houses onto the side of the cake. - - Roll out the marzipan into a 1/8 inch thickness. If your marzipan gets too sticky and difficult to roll, dust the surface + rolling pin with some icing sugar.
- Using your desired Xmas theme cookie cutter and cut out the marzipan. I am using snowflakes cookie cutter. - - Transfer the marzipan onto the fruit cake. - - Lastly dust with your desired edible glisters. - - Slice and serve. - - The fruit cake will keep well in the fridge for a few weeks.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Level the top and cover with a disc of baking paper. This traditional cake has been jazzed up with lots of ginger - you'd never know it's gluten-free and dairy-free. This fabulously moist and nutty Christmas cake is baked with a syrup. Just wanted to know is there a difference between this fruit cake and a Christmas plum cake?
So that’s going to wrap it up for this special food xmas fruit cake recipe. Thanks so much for your time. I am confident that you will make this at home. There is gonna be more interesting food in home recipes coming up. Don’t forget to save this page on your browser, and share it to your family, friends and colleague. Thank you for reading. Go on get cooking!
