Three Citrus Christmas Fruit Cake
Peter Murray
A rich fruity tangy traditional Christmas fruit cake.
Prep Time 45 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 hours hrs
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 orange
- Juice of 1 grapefruit
- Peel of half a lemon diced
- Peel of half an orange diced
- Peel of half a grapefruit diced
- 500 g mixed dried fruit currants, sultanas, raisins, figs, apricots
- 200 g sultanas
- 75 ml fruit juice
- 75 ml red wine
- 250 g margarine
- 200 g brown sugar
- 100 g ground almonds
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 175 g plain flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 large eggs
Icing
- 2 x 250g packets white fondant
- 1 vial of almond essence
Mix the fruits, peels, juices, sugar, margarine and spices in a large pot. Bring it to boil and simmer for 10 minutes so all the peel is soft and the fruit is well mixed. Pour the fruit mixture into a large bowl and allow it to cool. Preheat the oven to 150ÂșC.
Slowly add the flour, baking powder, vanilla and eggs, with constant mixing.
Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with a double layer of baking paper. Bake for two hours. Remove from the oven. Poke several holes with a skewer throughout the cake and splash extra wine (about 1 tablespoon) around the holes. Repeat this every few days until a week before the cake will be served.
This made a 20cm square cake. The cake does not rise much when cooking, so bake it in a smaller, deeper tin for a taller cake.
Adapted from James Martin, BBC goodfood