mad about baking

So very English - the traditional Rich Fruit Cake, used as a base for wedding cakes, celebration and birthday cakes etc. It’s full of fruit and very heavy, so easy to work with if you cover it in marzipan, icing or whatever else takes your fancy. I am just working on a wedding cake for a friend and have baked a 7″ and a 10″ of these over the weekend. The kitchen smelled so fantastic all day.

Due to the high sugar content of this cake, you can keep it for ages, in fact it best to make the cake 2 - 3 months ahead and let it mature and give it a soaking of your favorite alcohol every 4 weeks of so. Once it is iced, the cake will keep for 9 - 12 months, believe it or not. Sorry, I don’t have an image of the rich fruit cake itself - the cake is in there though, honest! The picture shows a royal iced cake I finished today in my confectionery design class.

Ever wondered how to make a traditional Rich Fruit Cake? Well, here’s how:

Preparation

Ingredients

• 155g Cake Margarine
• 155g Dark Brown Sugar
• 25g Marzipan
• 175g Egg
• 1g Almond flavour
• 1g Orange flavour
• 155g Medium (All Purpose) Flour
• 5g Mixed Spice
• 5g Cinnamon
• 180g Raisins
• 310g Currants
• 205g Sultanas
• 130g Glace Cherries
• 90g Mixed Peel
• 30g Sherry (or Rum or Brandy)

Method

1. Soak fruit in sherry for 24 hours.
2. Cream the margarine with the sugar and the marzipan until light and fluffy.
3. Mix almond and orange flavors (I use natural extracts) to the egg and add slowly to the mix. Do this by adding a little at a time, blending it in on a slow speed and then beating it briefly on a high speed.
4. Sieve the flour and the spices three times and mix into the batter.
5. Add the fruit and blend in.
6. Grease you cake tin with butter and line with greaseproof paper and fill with the mixture. Level the mixture by gently pressing down with your knuckles (dip them into water first so the cake mix doesn’t stick to them).
7. Due to the long baking time and the high sugar content of this cake, it needs to be protected from burning. To do this line a baking tray with two layers of thick paper (i.e. brown parcel paper) and also tie a double layer of this around the cake. To protect the top, cover the cake tin loosely with a sheet of greaseproof paper for the first 2/3 or so of the baking time.
8. Bake in the oven for about 3 hours. Check well before though. I check after 2 hours and then every 20 min to see if it’s baked. A skewer inserted into the cake should come out completely clean.
9. Let the cake cool in the tin until cool enough to handle. Then turn out of the cake, keeping the greaseproof paper on the cake to protect it.
10. If you like, sprinkle another 30g of alcohol over the top of the cake.
11. To store until needed, make sure it’s completely covered in greaseproof paper and then wrap in foil. Store in a coolish, dry place.

Conny’s Tip

To stop the cake mixture curdling when you add the egg, make sure the egg is at room temperature. If it’s cold, try warming up the sugar briefly in the oven, before creaming with the margarine.