Easy Traditional Christmas Cake Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Easy Traditional Christmas Cake Recipe

This recipe makes an English style fruit cake that's so rich and dense it can pass as a pudding! It's a classic British Christmas treat that's best made ahead and keeps for months. There are a lot of ingredients to chop but the mixing and baking isn't hard at all.

Prep Time20

Cook Time3

Soaking Time1

Total Time1 3 20

Course: Afternoon Tea, Food Gift, Morning Tea

Cuisine: English

Keyword: Christmas cake, English Christmas fruit cake, fruit cake

Servings:

Calories: 490kcal

Ingredients

3 cups sultanas or golden raisins
1 1/2 cups raisins roughly chopped
1 3/4 cups dates pitted, finely chopped
1 cup dried currants sometimes called Zante currants
5 candied orange slices finely chopped (my preference, mixed dried citrus peel is more traditional, see notes)
2/3 cup candied cherries chopped; I like red, you can use red, green or a mix
1/4 cup chopped candied pineapple
1/2 cup chopped candied apricots
1/2 cup rum or brandy, dry sherry or other alcohol, see notes
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 Tbsp rum or other alcohol, extra

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Combine all the dried fruits with the brandy in a large bowl. Mix very well, then cover and set aside at least overnight. You can soak the fruit for up to a week, stirring and recovering each day.
3 cups sultanas, 1 1/2 cups raisins, 1 3/4 cups dates, 1 cup dried currants, 5 candied orange slices, 2/3 cup candied cherries, 1/4 cup chopped candied pineapple, 1/2 cup chopped candied apricots, 1/2 cup rum
Preheat your oven. For a regular oven, preheat to 265°F/130°C. For combi steam, set to the same temperature using Combi Steam setting, and no more than 30% steam (low steam). Line the base and sides of a deep 9-inch (22cm) round cake pan with a triple thickness of parchment paper, extending the sides up about 2 inches past the top of the pan.
Put the butter and brown sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use a large bowl and a hand beater. Mix until well combined but not fluffy.
1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup brown sugar
Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition. The mixture is going to look lumpy and curdled, that's normal.
5 eggs
Sift the dry ingredients into the butter and egg mix and mix to combine. Tip in the soaked fruit and any remaining liquid, and mix well. I prefer to do this part by hand with a wooden spoon, as the mixer blade has a tendency to squash the fruit.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Scrape the cake mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Bake until it's deep brown and form to the touch; 3 1/2 hours in a conventional oven or 2 hours 45 minutes in combi steam.
Brush the top of the hot cake with extra brandy, then cover and set aside to cool overnight in the pan. Turn out, brush with more brandy if you want to, then wrap well and store the cake in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months. It's at its best a few weeks after baking, so try to give it that long if you can.
3 Tbsp rum

Notes

Dried fruit notes:
1. Sultanas, raisins and currants; I'm referring in all cases to different varieties of dried grapes. They're commonly available in Australian and UK supermarkets but you may need to look online in the USA.
2. I really dislike the mixed citrus peel that's commonly used in fruit cakes and puddings, so I always substitute it with glace (candied) orange slices for a similar but less bitter flavor. If you like peel, swap out the orange slices above for 1/3 cup chopped mixed peel.
3. Everywhere you see 'candied' fruit listed above, I'm referring to fruits which are cooked in sugar syrup to preserve their color and flavor. Candied fruits may be sold as glace fruits depending on your location.
4. The total overall volume of dried fruit is of most importance here, not the exact mix. I think it's critical to have a good amount of raisins/sultanas and some dates for texture and sweetness. After that, mix and match as you like depending on what you have or can get. Just make sure all your fruits are chopped into pieces no larger than the size of a single sultana/golden raisin.
Alcohol in fruit cakes: It's traditional to soak both the dried fruit and the finished fruit cake in alcohol, for flavor and preservation. What you use is up to you; spiced rum is my preference but my husband's English relatives would ALWAYS use brandy or sherry. Whiskey, orange liqueur (Cointreau) and even amaretto are also common. If you don't want an alcoholic cake you can soak the fruit in orange juice, and brush it with a simple syrup made of mostly orange juice and a little sugar after baking. Keep in mind a non-alcoholic cake won't keep as long as the boozy one, so it's best to freeze rather than store in the pantry in that case.
Storage of fruit cakes: An alcohol-soaked cake will improve and keep, well-wrapped in a dark, cool place like the back of a pantry, for a couple of months at least. If you live in a warm climate or want to store it for longer than that, wrap tightly and put in the fridge for up to 2 months or freeze for up to a year.

Nutrition