Boiled fruit cake. I know how unattractive that sounds, but trust me.
This recipe comes from Josceline Dimbleby, A Taste of Dreams, but I have altered it a bit, so feel free!
Heat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Put a disc of buttered parchment into the bottom of a buttered, deep 6 – inch cake tin. I often line the sides with buttered parchment too. If you are lucky enough to have an Aga cook the cake in the cool oven overnight.
6 oz butter
6 oz soft brown sugar
1/2 pint (300ml) water
4 oz sultanas (golden sultanas are particularly pretty)
4 oz currants
4 oz prunes, roughly chopped
2 oz candied peel, angelica, chopped glaçé cherries and such
2 oz walnut pieces
Put all the above into a saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes, covered. Let cool.
8 oz plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground coriander
Sift together into a bowl. Add the fruit mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, then add
2 eggs, beaten
Bake in the centre of the oven for one hour, test, leave longer (only up to 20 minutes) if necessary. Turn onto a rack to cool.
This cake would last well if it weren’t always eaten so quickly – its moist, fudgy flavour is irresistible, very like the incredibly expensive cakes you can buy from monks on the internet, or Fortnums at Christmas. It also has a slight look of stained glass, why is this a theme? Quite apart from stained glass cookies made with boiled sweets!
This is for Sparky, and for Paddy.
Fruit cake gets a bad reputation because there’s so much bad fruitcake. This one sounds pretty good.
Merry Christmas!
Not sure I should thank you for this recipe.
A post-holiday return to regular exercise is clearly on the horizon! But for now, yum.
I didn’t think I missed sweet things particularly until I saw that picture. Ah, a pimp can dream.
Happy Christmas Tricia Rose – wishing you a peaceful but not boring day in your cabin on the water. (Me, I’m up before everyone else courtesy of the uncouth, claxoning birds around here).
Currawongs? Noisy miners?
I have a currawong as my ringtone – don’t have them here, just noisy ducks.
OMG. i love anything dense and heavy and moist. cake i mean. they can have all the fluffy and light that they work so hard to achieve. what’s that about anyway?
give me a REAL cake. like this one. perfection!
thank you!
happy christmas tricia rose.
tammy j
Thank you, Tricia! My beau always says fruitcake is better in Australia. Now I can try it myself. Merry Christmas! ~Sparky
This looks delicious and easy enough to encourage me to try it out. Wishing you a very happy and peaceful Christmas, and so many thanks for your lovely blog and your visits and kind words on mine!
Karen x
I personally love fruit cake….this one looks extra yummy! Perfect with a cup of black tea. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Tricia. Wishing you a glorious New Year ahead! ~Loi
Maybe I need to try your recipe for fruitcake to change my overall opinion about it…
Wishing you a very Happy New Year Tricia!
xo
Cathy
just read this post..post-holiday… but I’m down for this fruitcake.. I love fruitcake but this one looks easy and oh so delectable… I’m making this soon’s I have a minute in the kitchen..
xo
Kit