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Fruit Cake cooling on a wire cooling rack, with a box of Billington's Golden Caster Icing sugar
455Total Time
25Prep Time
430Bake Time
16Serves
A little effort

Fruit Cake

1 Reviews

About our Fruit Cake recipe

You can't beat a slice of fruit cake with a cup of tea. Our traditional fruit cake recipe has a special blend of spices.

What alcohol is best for fruit cake?

Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. We use brandy in our fruit cake recipe.

If you're into fruit cake, we think you'll love our mini simnel cakes.

455Total Time
25Prep Time
430Bake Time
16Serves
A little effort

Method

  1. Step 1:

    Preheat the oven to (150°C 300°F, gas mark 2). Butter a 23cm (9 in) round cake tin and line with a double thickness of buttered greaseproof paper or non-stick baking parchment.

  2. Step 2:

    Soak the apricots in the whisky or brandy for at least 4 hours or overnight.

  3. Step 3:

    Cream the butter and sugar with the lemon and orange zest until light and fluffy, then stir in the almonds.

  4. Step 4:

    Whisk the eggs until pale and thick, then gradually whisk into the creamed mixture until well mixed.

  5. Step 5:

    Sift the flour and salt into the bowl and gently fold into the mixture with a metal spoon.

  6. Step 6:

    Stir in the orange and lemon juices, soaked apricots, the candied fruits, ginger and the walnuts. Spoon into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.

  7. Step 7:

    Bake just below the centre of the oven for 2½ hours, then cover the cake loosely with foil and reduce the heat to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1) and bake for another 1½-2 hours until cooked through - test with a skewer, which should come out clean.

  8. Step 8:

    Cool the cake in the tin, then turn out and wrap in greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool but not cold place for up to three weeks.

  9. Step 9:

    To make the icing for the decoration, whisk the egg whites until frothy and gradually stir in about 2/3 of the golden icing sugar, beating well.

  10. Step 10:

    Beat in the lemon juice and the rest of the icing sugar until the icing is thick and forms soft peaks.

  11. Step 11:

    Spoon onto the cold cake and spread roughly over the cake with a palette knife.

Ingredients

    • 175g Dried apricots
    • 6 tbsp Brandy (or whisky)
    • 225g Butter (unsalted)
    • 1 Lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
    • 1 Lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
    • 1 Orange juice (from 1 orange)
    • 1 Orange zest (from 1 orange)
    • 225g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
    • 50g Almonds (ground)
    • 4 Egg(s) (free range)
    • 225g Allinson's Plain White Flour
    • 1 Salt
    • 175g Glacé cherries
    • 110g Stem ginger (finely chopped)
    • 110g Glacé pineapple (coarsely choped)
    • 110g Candied peel (coarsely chopped)
    • 50g Candied mango
    • 110g Walnuts (roughly chopped)
  • For the decoration (optional)

    • 450g Unrefined golden icing sugar
    • 2 Egg white(s) (free range)
    • 1 tbsp Juice of one whole lemon

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