fruit cake

[sarah wu]

Hi, does anyone have a good fruit cake recipe? I previously used this recipe but I felt that it was too light and fluffy, not moist, dense or rich enough..



Fruit cake



¾ cup raisins, soaked in juice overnight

3/4 cup Cranberries, apricots, currants, soaked in juice overnight

¾ cup brown sugar

3 tbsp molasses

1 ¾ cup flour

142g butter

1 cup apple juice

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 orange

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp allspice

1. Soak fruit in juice overnight, drain

2. Combine fruit, butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice in a saucepan.

3. Bring to boil then leave to simmer for 10min. Cool

4. In another bowl, combine flour, bp, bs

5. Sift dry into wet ingredients

6. Beat in eggs

7. Pour into a 10” round tin

8. Bake @180 for 1 hr

 

[Becky]

I've done this recipe before and I was pretty happy with the result - it was a nice balance between being very moist and rich but not too heavy:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/nov/17/how-cook-perfect-christmas-cake

 

[sarah wu]

Oh, I saw this recipe but I was rather worried cause there were so many eggs inside.. how do eggs affect the texture of a cake?

 

[ChesterV]

I don't like traditional fruit cake. Way too hard and mushy for me.

I make what I call "Fruited Cake".

All I do is make a regular French Vanilla cake (you can use cake mix), leave out the water from the directions, and dump in one can of my favorite fruit cocktail.

Most people prefer this, as it is not heavy, dense, and mushy.



Eggs don't affect the texture of a cake too much. Eggs are more of a binding ingredient. Although eggs do help with the rising of the cake when it is baked.

I have made cakes without eggs before, and they don't rise as much as a cake made with eggs.

Of course if you make a cake that is mostly eggs, it will have an effect on the texture of the cake. It will usually make it more "pudding" like, rather than cake like.

 

[djordjem87]

I love these and I like the easy ones and light ones. No eggs. Also sometimes people tend to call me a fruit cake, , but that is a different story.

This one is easy. You will need a pack of lady fingers .A kilo of sour cream with high percentage of fat. 20 tbsp of granulated white sugar. Half kilo of some fruit that you like. For me raspberries, strawberries or apricots are the best. Some whipped cream to top the cake.

So, make one layer of lady fingers in a dish where you want to have your cake. In another bowl mix sugar and sour cream by hand slowly so the cream doesn't turn to liquid. Put half of that on lady fingers, than on that place your fruit. Another layer of lady fingers on fruit then again cream and fruit. Finish with whipped cream and place in the fridge for two hours minimum. So, lady fingers, cream, fruit, lady fingers, cream fruit, whipped cream, fridge, eat.

 

[Becky]

Oh, I saw this recipe but I was rather worried cause there were so many eggs inside.. how do eggs affect the texture of a cake?

They make it moist and help bind the ingredients together. I've done cakes with more than 4 eggs before!

 

[sarah wu]

@Becky ohhh okay, thanks so much! Cause I once tasted a fruit cake that I felt was rather too.. eggy haha
@djordjem87 @ChesterV I'm looking for a more traditional fruit cake recipe haha but thanks anyway

 

[Homelovingirl31]

Hi, I 've just joined the forum. I wanted to make my daughter's wedding cake, she gets married in5 weeks and I'm getting worried about it now. I have used the Kenwood chef recipe before (rich fruit cake). However, I made another one (top tier) from another recipe book, well known tv lady, but the top of this one seems quite hard. Has anyone had a similar problem? I am now thinking about baking another in case the first one doesn't soften a bit when I start to "feed" it.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Every year when the Holiday Season is already near I always plan of baking a fruitcake which up to now I have not try doing. The holiday is already over and as usual we only bought our fruitcake in our favorite bakeshop. Up to now I am looking for a recipe that is simple and had been tested and delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe and I will check on this and see if I can try this one.

 

[Becky]

Hi, I 've just joined the forum. I wanted to make my daughter's wedding cake, she gets married in5 weeks and I'm getting worried about it now. I have used the Kenwood chef recipe before (rich fruit cake). However, I made another one (top tier) from another recipe book, well known tv lady, but the top of this one seems quite hard. Has anyone had a similar problem? I am now thinking about baking another in case the first one doesn't soften a bit when I start to "feed" it.

It may be that it had too long in the oven, causing it to dry out, but I'm just guessing. Feeding it is definitely a good idea, and hopefully it will help! Are the other tiers ok?

 

[Homelovingirl31]

Becky, only just noticed your reply, thanks for getting back. I have only made a 6 inch cake as the top tier so far, but I am now soaking the fruit for another the same size. I think you could be right about it being too long in the oven. I tried a "test cake" last year, using the Kenwood Chef recipe and it was lovely and moist. This last one I used Mary Berry's recipe, but I am blaming myself, perhaps I could have mixed it up a bit better. I really need to get the next one right, especially as I have another tier to do. Any advice would be most welcome....

 

[Homelovingirl31]

It may be that it had too long in the oven, causing it to dry out, but I'm just guessing. Feeding it is definitely a good idea, and hopefully it will help! Are the other tiers ok?

I forgot to say that I have started to feed it, but it really is quite firm on the top. I was thinking perhaps I could turn it upside down, as the underside is not hard like the top. I do have problems deciding when rich fruit cakes are done and tend to overbake.

 

[Becky]

I have only made a 6 inch cake as the top tier so far, but I am now soaking the fruit for another the same size.

Ah ok, I think that's a good idea. Try cutting down on the baking time and see how it goes! Which recipe are you using out of curiosity? Mary Berry has quite a few fruit cake recipes! Alternatively if you liked the Kenwood recipe it might be worth sticking with that

 

[Homelovingirl31]

Hi Becky, thanks for your reply. Apologies for the smilies, I can't seem to delete them for some reason.
It was Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book and the rich fruit celebration cake I made. I did put two circles of baking parchment on the top of the cake whilst baking. So it was probably in the oven for too long. I will let you know how I get on with doing a replacement cake.

 

[Becky]

Fab, hope it goes well