This week, with Christmas almost upon us, Roy decided he would like to show his online friends how to make a tasty ‘Christmas Fruit Cake’, for those who forgot to make one earlier. Roy usually makes his fruit cake for Christmas months in advance, because they mature nicely, but knows that some people might have forgotten and be worried about whether they can still make a tasty one this late. Roy has a recipe which he uses year round to make cakes, which can be made with all sorts of additions, and makes a fantastically moist and tasty fruit cake. So this week, Roy Creates Last Minute Christmas Cake.
This recipe is adapted from the Premi-Babes Association of Orange Cook Book.
You Will Need:
- 180grams of butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup self raising flour
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 1 and ½ cups of castor sugar
- 250grams of cream cheese
- 2 teaspoons of lemon rind
- 125grams of chopped glace cherries
- 250 grams of sultanas
Note: This is the original recipe, and looks very festive but Roy makes all sorts of variations. To make a real ‘Christmas Cake’ substitute the sultanas and glace cherries with a jar of fruit mince, or soak some mixed fruit and peel in orange juice (or whatever else you like to use). You could also add some mixed spice and cinnamon. You can also change the lemon rind for orange, add vanilla essence, use chocolate chips instead of sultanas and cherries and all sorts of other alterations.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius
- Grease or line a 23 centimetre round cake tin.
- Sift the plain and self raising flours together into a bowl.
- In a different bowl, large enough to hold the whole mix, cream the butter, cream cheese, lemon rind and sugar until the mix is light and fluffy.
- In another bowl, coat the sultanas with a few spoons of the flour. This will stop them all sinking to the bottom of the cake.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating them in as you go.
- Add the flour (half at a time) and beat it in.
- Use a wooden spoon to fold the sultanas and cherries through the mix.
- Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
- Let the cake cool and then enjoy! As with all fruit cakes, it is better to leave the cake for a day before you cut it – it doesn’t crumble as much that way.
- This cake will keep really well - if you can stop everyone from eating it!
