Boiled Fruitcake – Conventional method
This is how to make this beautiful cake conventionally.
The recipe makes one 15 cm round cake or 13 cm square cake.
- Prep Time: 60 mins including cooling
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 slices
- Category: fruitcakes
- Method: conventional
- Cuisine: Australian/English
Ingredients
Zest of one lemon, yellow part only
40 g light brown sugar
60 g seedless raisins
50 g currants
40 g sultanas
120 g unsalted butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
50 g sherry
40 g water
1 egg, at room temperature
140 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
15–20 nuts to decorate (pecans, walnut halves, blanched almonds)
1 tablespoon smooth apricot jam for glazing, once baked
Instructions
Preheat oven to 150°C non-fan (130°C fan-forced). Grease and line 15 cm round tin or a 13 cm square tin and set aside.
Place lemon zest, sugar, dried fruits, butter, bicarbonate of soda, spice mix, sherry and water in a saucepan and cook 10 minutes on medium heat. Take off heat and transfer mixture to a bowl.
Allow to cool in the bowl for 30-40 minutes (I put the bowl in the fridge. I have forgotten about it often, and once left it there for a few days, and all was fine. The flavour was wonderfully enhanced with the extra soaking time.)
When the mixture is cool, add egg, flour and baking powder, and mix until just incorporated.
Pour into prepared tin and level. Decorate the top with nuts.
Place in preheated oven and bake 50-60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes. Cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Brush top with a little apricot jam to glaze while the cake is hot and still in the tin. Cool in the cake tin for 15 minutes then turn onto a rack to completely cool.
Keywords: boiled fruit cake, traditional light fruitcake, Christmas cake, cake for one, small batch baking
Find it online: https://carolinerowe.com/boiled-fruitcake/