Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Christmas Cake – moist, easy fruit cake Recipe
Christmas Cake is a conventional fruit cake with a wealthy, velvety texture that’s so full flavoured and moist it may be eaten plain. However nobody turns away a slosh of custard! Often Christmas Desserts have to be began the day earlier than, with in a single day soaking of dried fruit. However not mine!
For gifting, make Mini Christmas Desserts. They give the impression of being cute when wrapped!
I’m fussy about Christmas Cake as a result of (talking frankly) there are too many not-so-great-ones on the market. Right here’s how I like / don’t like my Christmas Cake:
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With or with out alcohol – cake needs to be simply nearly as good with or with out booze (I largely make it with out – so it may be extensively shared!);
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Not an excessive amount of peel or citrus flavour – I’m simply not a fan of biting into big chunks of orange rind. I identical to a delicate trace of citrus flavour;
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Delicate and velvety is how I like the feel to be if you slice by it – it’s how “good fruit truffles” ought to be. Versus “crumbly” with a muffin-like texture. I make muffins all 12 months spherical, I don’t need my Christmas Cake like that!
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Moist and fudgy – however nonetheless distinctly cake like, not brownie-like. Some truffles I attempted to match main as much as sharing this recipe have been simply far too dry.
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Fairly dense however NOT brick like! Some Christmas Cake recipes are WAY too dense, and you are feeling such as you’re slicing right into a block of agency fudge. No thanks!
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Adorning is elective!! The cake ought to be tasty sufficient and moist sufficient to eat plain, with none frosting / fondant or custard.
So if that sounds good to you, then I believe you’re actually going to like this Christmas Cake!
This fruit cake makes use of a extremely efficient FAST fruit soaking technique by heating within the microwave then soaking for simply 1 hour. Works 100% completely!
You want a LOT of dried fruit and little or no cake batter substances!!
1. Soaked Dried Fruit
Right here’s what you want for the Soaked Dried Fruit. The fruit is soaked in both apple juice OR a mix of apple juice and brandy (for individuals who like boozy Christmas Cake).
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Use any dried fruit you need – so long as it weighs 855g / 30 oz in complete. You possibly can even use a retailer purchased mixture of pre chopped dried fruit – however simply know that chopping your individual will yield a extra moist cake (pre chopped will not be as moist), however having stated that, this cake is ULTRA moist so has the flex to make use of pre chopped!
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Combined peel is a retailer purchased mixture of dried, crystallised (ie sugared) lemon and orange peel. Often it comes pre chopped – I like to cut it a bit finer. I like much less citrus peel than some recipes as a result of I’m too scarred by all these instances I bit into an enormous piece of orange peel. Simply to not my style! Don’t use FRESH orange and lemon peel, will probably be too robust and too bitter. I have no idea how a lot recent peel to substitute this for.
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Juice and/or booze – for a conventional boozy Christmas Cake, simply swap 1/3 of the apple juice with brandy. Also can sub apple juice with orange juice in order for you a stronger��citrus flavour.
2. Christmas Cake Batter
And right here’s what you want for the cake batter half. The cake has little or no baking powder as a result of it’s fairly a dense cake. However it’s nonetheless received a definite “cake” texture – in contrast to some Christmas Desserts which can be so dense, you’d swear you have been consuming a block of fudge!
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Darkish brown sugar – makes the cake a wealthy darkish brown color. Can sub with regular brown sugar – will make cake lighter (additionally appears good as fruit stands out!)
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Molasses / golden syrup – provides to the richness of flavour and color of cake. Both is ok – I interchange 12 months on 12 months;
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Walnuts – sub with any nuts of selection, or depart it out fully;
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Oil AND butter – oil is what offers this cake an excellent moistness. Butter is for flavour!
And right here’s how the making half goes down.
The important thing step that makes this a lot quicker to make than different fruit truffles is the fruit soaking step. Most recipes name for dried fruit to be soaked in a single day.
I take a speedy method: simply microwave the dried fruit with juice and/or brandy, then stand for 1 hour to absorb the liquid. A lot quicker – and simply as efficient!
Apart from that, there’s nothing uncommon about how this fruit cake is made.
As a result of it’s a dense cake, it must be baked lengthy and sluggish with a purpose to prepare dinner it all over with out drying out the sides and floor (with out fussing with water baths). I bake it for two 1/2 hours coated with foil, then one other 30 to 45 minutes with out foil to brown the floor (examine with skewer to know when it’s cooked).
A plain Christmas Cake does appear to be an enormous, darkish brown block so it’s good to embellish it! Listed here are some concepts – however bear in mind, it’s purely ornamental. This fruit cake is full flavoured and really moist so in contrast to different truffles, you don’t want a frosting to make it extremely delish to eat!
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Easy – simply mud with icing sugar, or pile on cherries or different fruit and dirt with icing sugar;
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Christmas TREE decorations – sure, actually. Inedible decorations is FINE!!
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Drippy white glaze – use the recipe on this Lemon Cake with Drippy Glaze however skip the lemon within the glaze. Flip cake the wrong way up for a wonderfully degree floor;
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Conventional white fondant (pictured above) – I do know some folks actually don’t like fondant. Too many unhealthy marriage ceremony cake experiences!! However these days, retailer purchased fondant is definitely a lot nicer than it was up to now. It simply tastes like a softish sheet of plain candy frosting. See beneath the recipe card for a step-by-step visible of the right way to apply the white fondant in your Christmas Cake.
The cake within the pictures is the 2nd time in my life I’ve used fondant. So if I can do it, you are able to do it too!
This Christmas Fruit Cake is wealthy and moist, with a ton of flavour from the fruit so it’s completely delish eaten plain. No frosting, no fondant – nothing wanted – and it’s actually how I decide away on the leftovers for weeks and weeks!
However in the event you actually wish to make it particular, serve it with custard. Selfmade custard, in the event you can. However in the event you go for retailer purchased, do my little pimping up trick – simply stir in some vanilla bean paste. The little black specks offers it slightly “further particular” look and it does wonders to clean up the flavour too!
And lastly, you’ll be very pleased to know this retains for weeks and weeks! 3 months within the fridge, a 12 months within the freezer.
Will yours final that lengthy??! – Johnsat x
PS How did I get all the best way right down to right here with out telling you the place all my Christmas recipes stay?? Proper right here -> Christmas Recipes
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz raisins
- 150g / 5 oz diced dried apricots , chopped 8 mm / 1/3"
- 75g / 2.5 oz mixed peel , diced 5mm / 1/5
- 150g / 5 oz glace cherries , chopped 8 mm / 1/3"
- 180g / 6 oz dates , diced 5mm / 1/5"
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp apple juice, OR 1/3 brandy + 2/3 juice (Note 2)
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (1 US stick)
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar , packed (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola, peanut, grapeseed)
- 3 tbsp molasses or golden syrup (Note 4)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 2/3 cups plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 3/4 cup walnuts , chopped (optional)
- 500ml / 1 pint pouring custard , homemade or store bought (Note 5)
- 250g / 8 oz "ready to roll" marzipan
- 250g / 8 oz "ready to roll" white fondant
- Cherries dusted with icing sugar
- Cherries or other fruit dusted with icing sugar (on plain cake, looks very pretty!)
- Drippy white glaze (directions below)
Instructions
- Place dried fruit and juice/brandy in a large microwavable container. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high or until hot.
- Stir to coat all fruit in liquid. Cover then set aside for 1 hour (to plump up/soak and cool).
- Preheat oven to 160°C / 320°F (140°C fan). Grease and line a 21 – 22 cm / 8 – 9" round cake pan with baking paper (parchment paper) (7 cm / 2.75" tall).
- Using an electric beater, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute on speed 5).
- Add oil and molasses, beat until combined.
- Add salt, spices and baking powder – beat until incorporated.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated
- Stir in the flour.
- When mostly incorporated, stir in the fruit mix (including all the extra liquid in bowl) and walnuts (if using).
- Pour into cake pan, cover with foil and bake for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the foil then bake for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into middle comes out clean with no batter on it (check first at 30 minutes).
- Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.
- Cake is moist and so full flavoured, it can be eaten plain. But see below for decorating and serving ideas (traditionally served with pouring custard).
- Cutting: Either cut into thin wedges, or cut cake into thin strips (2cm / 0.75" or so), then cut those strips into serving size pieces.
- Traditional White Christmas Cake (pictured in post) – Marzipan and fondant, see Decorating Note.
- Simple – pile top with fresh cherries or other fruit, dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar). Wrap a ribbon around the cake for extra touch!
- Drippy white glaze – use the glaze in this Lemon Cake recipe, but leave out the lemon juice (ie make a plain sweet white glaze). Flip cake upside down for flat surface then glaze per that recipe.
- Serving – serve with custard for a traditional experience! Either homemade custard or store bought pouring custard (jazz it up by mixing in vanilla seed paste!).
Notes
1. Dried fruit – any fruit of choice can be used as long as it totals 855g / 30 oz and it’s finely chopped. Combination I’ve used is to my taste – I do not like my fruit cake too citrusy (hate biting into big chunks of orange peel!). I like having variety for flavour.
Mixed peel is a store bought mix of diced, dried, crystallised (ie sweet) orange and lemon peel. Sometimes it’s already chopped, sometimes not. Chop it to size per recipe. It is not fresh peel. Fresh peel will be much stronger and more bitter – not sure how much to use.
Pre chopped mixed dried fruit – store bought mix of pre chopped dried fruit is fine to use. Chopping your own will yield a more moist cake (pre chopped dried fruit is not as moist) BUT having said that, this cake is so ultra moist, it has the give to use pre chopped!
2. Juice / brandy – this cake tastes just as good made with or without alcohol, it comes down to personal taste. I usually make it without because Christmas Cake stretches far and I want everyone to be able to eat it.
BRANDY – If you want to use brandy, use 1/3 cup brandy PLUS 2/3 cup + 2 tbsp juice.
Juice – I like using apple juice for its neutral flavour. Pineapple and other not so strong flavoured juices will be fine here. If you like citrus flavour, use orange juice – you can taste it a bit more than other juices.
3. Dark brown sugar – makes the cake a rich dark brown colour. Can sub with normal brown sugar – will make cake lighter (also looks nice as fruit stands out!)
4. Molasses / golden syrup – adds to the richness of flavour and colour of cake. Either is fine – I interchange year on year.
5. Custard – homemade pouring custard recipe here (“Creme Anglaise”). If you use store bought, pimping it up goes a long way to make it a bit special! Just stir in a bit of vanilla bean paste which will give it those lovely little black vanilla bean specks and improves the flavour.
(PS Difference between homemade and store bought is richness. Homemade custard has a much more luxurious mouthfeel)
6. Serving – cake is moist and so full flavoured it’s wonderful eaten plain. But for an extra special touch, serve with custard – see note above.
7. Storage – I’ve kept it for a month in an airtight container in the fridge and it was good as it was freshly made (at room temperature). Having researched online, looks like 2 to 3 months is the general consensus (for fridge) and a year in the freezer (for this sort of cake, with no alcohol.
8. Serving size – if you cut small slices into rectangles (see custard pouring photo), remembering this is RICH and dense, then it will serve 20 – 25 people. You will be amazed how HEAVY this cake is!
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DECORATING – Traditional white Christmas Cake (also see VIDEO & STEP PHOTOS below recipe card):
Best to use a cake turntable or similar (I used a small lazy susan!)
Marzipan layer mainly for creating perfect smooth surface for fondant layer.
Marzipan:
Dust work surface with icing sugar. Shape marzipan into a disc then roll out so it’s large enough to cover cake and sides (250g/8oz marzipan covers this cake perfectly with some excess).
Roll marzipan onto rolling pin, then unroll it over the cake.
Drape over cake, stretching and pressing to cover sides with as few pleats as possible. Use wet table eating knife to smooth pleats, doesn’t need to look perfect – this is Layer 1 to smooth cake, plus also for the subtle almond flavour.
Fondant: Dust work surface with more icing sugar, shape into disc, roll out and cover cake as you did with the marzipan.
Quilting decorative side (pictured in post and in video):
Use something with a clean edge but not as sharp as a knife (I used a cake server).
Press on a 45 degree angle on side of cake about 2.5 cm / 1″ apart all around the cake, then 45 degrees in the opposite direction to create “diamond”.
Dip the blunt end of a wooden skewer into water, then press a light indent into fondant on intersection of diamond.
Then press in a silver ball (water makes it stick). Repeat all around.
Top with cherries, dusting with icing sugar, give it a grand spin to admire your work and serve!
General note: Marzipan is prone to cracking and tearing but it doesn’t matter because marzipan layer is to create a smooth finish for the fondant layer. Fondant is easier to work with, but you need to be more careful because it’s the “pretty” layer. BUT any tears or rough patches can be smoothed out using the side of a wet table knife and / or patching up with excess bits of fondant. The wet knife softens the fondant so you can “spread” it to seal cracks.
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