20 days until Christmas, another reason to start baking (when it isn't a good time to bake anyway?). Today I present you the Christmas Fruit Cake, a traditional cake of British and Irish origin. Its peculiarity is that it has to "mature" for weeks and must therefore be prepared well in advance. I wanted to test the recipe because of the long preparation and because it is different from many other traditional desserts, Italians and not.
The main ingredient is dehydrated fruit, you can add whatever you like. Black currants are among the main fruits, but unfortunately I have not found them in any supermarket in my area. As an alternative I have used cranberries, adding more dehydrated fruit as reported in the ingredients. In the end, the fruit will be larger in volume than the dough.
I have found several recipes online and eventually made my own adaptation. For example, I have put the dehydrated fruit in Rum only a few hours, while as read in other recipes it is preferred to let it marinate for a whole day. If you're as eager to get started as I am, I think even a few hours will be fine.
As spices, another main ingredient that gives that typical Christmas scent, I have used a mix that I usually buy in a historic city grocery store and that I also use for gingerbread cookies. The mix is made up of different spices listed below, in this way I avoid buying all the spices separately that would be used just few times, as in these occasions.
It is advisable to cover the baking tin on the outside with a strip of parchment paper folded on itself to protect the outside of the cake. Leaving it in the oven for hours could result in a overcook edge, the protection allows a more even baking.
Many versions do not have dried fruit, many others have plenty of them, some have candied fruit or various citrus fruit paste. I added a bit of everything according to my taste.
A drunk cake
The cake is then "fed" with Rum or, if you prefer a less alcoholic version, with orange juice. If you're going for orange juice only (freshly squeezed) you can prepare the cake a week earlier and feed it more frequently. Alcohol, in fact, preserves the cake for a long time, which is not the case using only the orange juice. So I'll start with the rum adding the juice at the last week.
I haven't tasted the cake yet because it must be prepared a month before so that it is moist and super tasty for Christmas. At the moment I have left it in the hinged tin so that it is easy to remove when the time comes. If you do not have a hinged tin available, you can turn it out on a plate or tray and wrap it on the outside with baking paper held by a string for additional protection.
It is not finished yet, the cake looks very good even so "naked" and rustic, but the original version requires it to be covered with a layer of marzipan and then a last layer of royal icing. I will decorate it a few days before serving and will keep it in a dry place waiting to taste it.
I am so curious and you? See you again for the decoration!
Recipe
Preparation time 40 minutes
Cooking time 3 hrs
Serves 24 cm Ø baking tin
Ingredients
500 gr of dehydrated fruit (cranberries, raisins, sultanas, plums)
150 gr of dried fruit (almonds, hazelnuts)
100 gr of candied fruit (cedar, orange)
200 gr of flour
100 gr of dark brown sugar
125 gr of butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 sachet of vanillin
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Zest and juice of 1 orange
100 ml of Rum
1/2 tablespoon of spice mix (cloves, nutmeg, clove pepper, ginger)
Water q.s.
Method
1. Put the dehydrated fruit in a large bowl, sprinkle with half the rum and a few tablespoons of water, stir occasionally. Leave to marinate for several hours
2. In a saucepan, pour the macerated fruit with the remaining liquid, add the butter into small pieces, orange and lemon juice and zest, sugar and the rest of the rum
3. Bring to the boil while stirring and let it simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Leave to cool
4. Grease and line a 24 cm Ø cake tin with parchment paper. Also line the outside with a folded strip of parchment paper and close with cooking twine
5. In a bowl add the flour, baking powder, vanilla, spice mix, eggs, coarsely chopped dried fruit, cinnamon, candied fruit and cooled macerated fruit. Mix (by hand with a wooden spoon or mixer) until homogeneous consistency
6. Transfer to the tin and bake in a ventilated oven at 140 ° for 3 hrs
7. Once cooked (with toothpick test), allow to cool. With the help of a toothpick, make several holes from the surface to the bottom and sprinkle with several tablespoons of rum and / or orange juice. Repeat the process every 4-5 days for three weeks
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