Many recipes are of course typical for Christmas. Turkey and Beef Wellington are beautiful classics, and this one definitely belongs in that list. When I was watching a Christmas animation film with the children over a month before the holidays, this Christmas Fruit cake came by.
In this movie, the cake was placed next to the warm milk for Santa to welcome him. Christmas Fruit cake? I wanted to know more about that. After a lot of research and comparing many recipes from English and American websites, my mouth was already watering.
A cake that is richly filled with raisins, walnuts, figs, hazelnuts and plums. That had to be a tasty cake, and I haven’t even told you that we are going to soak these dried fruits in Port.
I used raisins, prunes, apricots and figs for this fruit cake. In addition to the fruits used here, you can also choose from dates or candied fruits. You can also add less different varieties, as long as you come to about 1450-1500 grams in total.
If you boil the dried fruits, you have to stir it often while cooking until the moisture at the bottom of the pan is gone Be careful not to let it all boil dry. Everything must cool down properly. That’s why it’s a good idea to do this step a day in advance.
Chop the nuts a bit smaller, but not to grit. If you like other nuts than the ones I use, then you should, of course.
Cover the bottom and the side of the springform with baking paper. Fill this 3/4 with the dough and smooth it out. Cut a round baking paper with a 2-centimetre hole in the middle and cover the dough with it.
The baking paper should lie well on the cake as this prevents the fruit on top from burning. The hole is to allow the moisture to escape. The amount of dough for this recipe is enough for a large and smaller fruit cake. You can give the other one away.
We cook the fruit cake indirectly at 150°C (302F). Place a pizza stone on the grates with the springform with the fruit cake on top. This way, you prevent the bottom of the cake from burning.
Because the Fruitcake is so well filled, we can only bake it at a low temperature, and you will have to take about three hours of baking time for it. If you are not sure of the heat distribution in your barbecue, you could turn the cake half a turn every half hour.
After three hours, check the Christmas Fruit cake by testing for doneness with a wooden skewer in the centre. If some wet dough still sticks to the skewer, place the springform back on the barbecue for a little while.
You’ve been busy for a couple of hours, but it all pays off at the end. When Santa gets out of bed for it, it must be good.
As should be the case with a real Christmas Fruit cake, it should be injected with liquor at the end. This can be done in two ways: use a thick wooden skewer to make holes at the top of the cake and carefully pour the drink onto the cake. Or take your syringe, which you use to inject your pulled pork, for example, and apply the alcohol directly into the fruit cake.
Brandy or bourbon is used in many Christmas Fruit cakes to pour over it. I tested several pieces of cake, and my personal preference was Tia Maria. Other suitable substitutes are also Kahlua, Cointreau or Liqor43.
Then wrap the Fruit cake tightly and tightly with cling film to keep it for later. Unless you are going to serve it the same day, of course. After a Christmas dinner, the Christmas fruit cake can be combined with a cup of coffee or a cheese platter with Muscat wine.
Have fun dressing up the Christmas fruit cake as a festive picture on the table. Frosting, icing sugar, candied fruits, nuts or red berries. Everything is possible to make a beautiful Christmas scene.
If you pack it properly, you can keep a Christmas fruit cake for over a week. If you treat the cake with a liquor afterwards, you can keep it for another 3 weeks. If you are a fan of spirits in combination with food, then this last step is recommended.
Ingredients
- 200 ml port
- 250 grams of white raisins
- 250 grams of soaked figs
- 375 grams of dried apricots
- 250 grams of prunes
- 100 grams of dried cranberries
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 lemons
- 2 oranges
- 150 grams of almonds
- 50 grams of walnuts
- 50 grams of hazelnuts
- 5 eggs
- 300 grams of brown sugar
- 350 grams of butter
- 200 grams of wheat flour
- 175 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- Tia Maria
Instructions
- Put the Port in a pan together with a teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of nutmeg. Cut the prunes, apricots and soaked figs into about 1-centimetre pieces. Put this in the pan along with the raisins. Grate the zest of the oranges and lemons over the pan and then squeeze in the juice.
- Put the pan on a low heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes with the lid on. Stir once or twice halfway. Cook until the moisture at the bottom of the pan is gone, but do not boil dry. Let the pan cool down completely.
- Cut the butter into smaller cubes and let it come to room temperature. Mix the softened butter and the light brown sugar. Stir this into a light, soft cream. If you own a food processor with a dough hook, I would definitely use it.
- Grind 100 grams of almonds in a chopper or blender. Add the eggs piece by piece to the butter-sugar cream and scoop a tablespoon of the almond flour with each egg. This prevents blockage.
- Now the wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and the rest of the almond flour can be added step by step and let the food processor do its work. Keep in mind that the dough will remain reasonably wet.
- Take a large bowl and put the cold cooked fruits in it. Coarsely chop 50 grams of almonds, the hazelnuts and walnuts. Add this to the fruits and stir well. Then the dough can be added and mix well with a spatula.
- Grease the springform and cover the bottom and side with baking paper. Fill 3/4 of the springform with the dough and smooth it out. Cut a round baking paper with a 2-centimetre hole in the middle and cover the dough with it.
- Heat up your barbecue with indirect heat to a temperature off 150°C (302F). Place the pizza stone on the grates and the springform with the Fruit cake on top.
- Close your barbecue and set yourself up for a baking time of about three hours. After three hours, check the fruit cake by testing for doneness with a wooden skewer in the centre.
- When the cake is done, remove it from the barbecue with gloves and allow it to cool completely.
- Inject the cake with liquor before sprinkling it with powdered sugar.
