A Traditional Christmas cake is steeped in brandy and dried fruits imparting lovely aroma. An easy cake recipe that I made for the first time without any hassle of too many ingredients. It’s simple and can even be baked by a beginner.

Jump to Recipe

Other Recipes you might like:

Last-Minute Fruit Cake

Orange cake

 

Preparation time: 30 – 45 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Round Springform cake pan: 8-inch / 20 cm 

Ingredients

Dried fruits (soaked a day in advance, *see notes):

Dates pitted, roughly chopped – 90 g

Raisins – 110 g

Black currant – 70 g

 

Cake mix:

Brandy / Rum  – 100 ml + extra for feeding the cake (*see notes)

Unsalted Butter ( soft)  – 200 g + extra for greasing the pan

Dark brown Sugar (fine) – 1 cup / 200 g

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Honey – 2 tbsp

Lemon Zest – 1

Top Flour / Plain flour (All-purpose flour) – 225 g

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Cloves – 1 tsp / 5 pcs (powdered see notes*)

Ground cinnamon – 1 tsp

Nutmeg – 1 tsp

Pinch of salt

Large whole eggs – 4, room temp

 

Cashew nuts – 1/2 cup or 75 g, chopped

Almonds, slivered – 20 g

Cashew nuts & almonds | Fruit Cake Recipe

Directions

1. Chop the dried fruits and soak them in a mixing bowl with brandy or rum and cover with cling film. Leave it for 24 hours or a week, stirring occasionally in a cool place.

Dried Fruits in Alcohol

2. The next day or after a week:

Add 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour to the cashew nuts and almonds, mix together. This in done so that they do not sink to the bottom of the cake. Reserve for later. Prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Grease and line a 20cm (8″) cake tin base with a circular cut parchment paper and also the greased circumference with a layer of baking parchment paper. Make sure the paper is few inches above the level of tin.

Greased with parchment

3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy using a electric hand mixer. Stir in the honey, vanilla extract, zest of one lemon and mix well with the hand mixer until well combined.

Butter-sugar

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cloves cinnamon, nutmeg along with salt. To avoid any face full of flour mix with a large spoon, initially, then use the electic hand mixer to mix and combine.

flour & spices

5. Add 2 eggs first, beat it and mix well for 30 seconds on low speed until you add the next one. Repeat until all are done.

Eggs

6. Add the dried fruits along with left over liquid and mix in, then stir in the cashew nuts and almonds.

Dried fruits nuts

7. Preheat the convection oven at 140 degree Celsius (275 °F / Gas mark 1). Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the tops.

cake batter

For a convection oven place the cake on a lower rack and see to that there is more than 2 inch gap from the parchment paper to the top.

Bake for 1hour and check with a wooden skewer for doneness. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. You may need to cover the top of the cake with a round parchment paper if it is getting too brown before the cake is fully cooked.

Fruit cake

I prepared this late in the evening hence the indoor lighting.

8. Leave the cake to cool in the tin completely. Remove the parchment paper from the sides.

Tada!! That is beautifully done with a great texture and lovely color. We were so tempted 😍 and right now just can’t wait for Christmas to grab a bite and try it out.

Fruit cake with brandy

 

For Feeding the cake:

Pierce the cake with a toothpick and drizzle 2 tbsp brandy over the cake. Immedialtely wrap it with double baking paper sheets and the final layer with aluminium foil. Store it in a cool place in a plastic bag and place it in a sealed airtight container.

Feeding the cake

If you have prepared the cake weeks in advance feed the cake with alcohol every week.

 

Notes

*I soaked the dried fruits with brandy for a week but you can also soak it overnight or the previous day before baking.

*In case you do not find cloves powder: take 5 pieces of cloves, place them in a small zip-lock bag and pound them to make a powder. You can also use a mortar and pestle.

*If using Rum: I used STROH rum, known for its bold 80% alcohol content, and carefully diluted it with an equal amount of water to create the perfect balance of rich flavor for my Christmas fruit cake.

The following brandy was also used for this cake. If you do not wish to use alcohol replace it with orange juice.

Brandy Napoleon

 

Wish you all a joyful pleasant Christmas with family and friends!😇🎄 And please stay updated through my FB page>> Delicious Sweet Aroma

Signing off for now – Sherryl 😊✍ 🎅

 

 

Hi folks, I am posting the Update on my Brandied Plum Cake after feeding it for few days and unwrapping it on Christmas day this week (Excitement! 😇 ). While I unwrapped it from the foils and butter paper we could get the lovely aroma of brandy. It was moist, fully flavored and matured with perfect amount of all ingredients I used. It tasted delicious just like the one’s I used to have from the bakery in my hometown during Christmas which made me so happy. I am quiet surprised that the brandy I used was the right amount – not too much and not too less. Hope you all are enjoying your holidays😊. Following are few pics taken on Christmas day where me and my husband sat all morning enjoying our homemade christmas treats just like we do in our hometown. How did you spent your Christmas this year?

IMG_9553

IMG_9549

Wishing you a joyous holiday season 🤩🎅☃ with peace and cheer in the New Year!❤🎶🎀🎁🎉

Sherryl 😊

 

 

Fruit cake / Christmas Cake | EAsy Cake Recipe | Delicious Sweet Aroma

Traditional Christmas Cake | Fruit Cake

A fruit cake soaked in rum or brandy, combining rich, spiced fruits with the deep, warming flavors. The alcohol enhances the cake's moist texture and allows the flavors to mature, making it a perfect festive dessert enjoyed by many during the holiday season.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Soaking Dried Fruits 1 day
Total Time 1 day 2 hours
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Indian
Calories

Equipment

  • 1 Round Springform Cake Pan

Ingredients
  

Dried Fruits ( for soaking in Rum or Brandy)

  • 90 g Dates pitted, roughly chopped
  • 110 g Raisins
  • 70 g Dried Plums/ Black currant

Cake Mix

  • 100 ml Brandy / Rum
  • 200 g Butter soft unsalted plus extra for greasing the pan
  • 200 g Dark Brown Sugar fine
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 1 Lemon Zest
  • 225 g All-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 tsp Cloves powder
  • 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Nutmeg powder
  • 4 Eggs Large at room temperature
  • pinch of salt

Dried Nuts

  • 75 g Cashew nuts
  • 20 g Almonds slivered

Instructions
 

Prepare the Dried Fruits

  • Chop the dried fruits and soak them in a mixing bowl with brandy or rum and cover with cling film.
  • Leave it for 24 hours or a week, stirring occasionally in a cool place.

Prepare the Nuts

  • Add 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour to the cashew nuts and almonds, mix together. This in done so that they do not sink to the bottom of the cake. Reserve for later. Prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  • Grease and line a 20cm (8″) cake tin base with a circular cut parchment paper and also the greased circumference with a layer of baking parchment paper. Make sure the paper is few inches above the level of tin.

Cream Butter ad Sugar

  • In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Stir in the honey, vanilla extract, zest of one lemon and mix well.

Mix Dry Ingredients

  • Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

Combine Eggs

  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Preheat Oven

  • Preheat your oven top -Bottom heat to 140°C (275°F/Gas mark 1) . Grease and line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.

Combine Fruits and Nuts

  • Stir in the soaked dried fruits and then the chopped nuts.

Bake

  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Soak with Rum:

  • Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool. Then, remove the cake from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack. Brush it generously with more rum or brandy.

Wrap and Rest:

  • Once the cake has cooled completely, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 24 hours to allow the flavors to meld. For an even richer flavor, you can feed it with rum every few days.

Notes

 

  • For an extra moist fruit cake, you can soak it in rum for several weeks before serving.
  • Use high-quality rum for the best flavor.
Enjoy your rich, flavorful rum-infused fruit cake!
Keyword Boozy Fruit Cake, Christmas Fruit Cake, Rum Fruit Cake

 

Summary
recipe image
Recipe Name
Traditional Christmas cake - Fruit Cake
Published On
Preparation Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Average Rating
51star1star1star1star1star Based on 1 Review(s)