Fruit Cake Recipes

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt together the butter and brown sugar in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet on medium heat. When the sugar and butter have melted together stir in the blackberries, pineapple, thyme leaves and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the brown sugar begins to bubble, about 3 minutes. Once this happens turn the heat off.
• Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package and pour over the fruit. Bake until the cake is slightly golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the creme fraiche: Whisk the creme fraiche, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, lemon zest and salt in a medium bowl to stiff peaks.
• To serve: Serve slices of cake warm or at room temperature with dollops of vanilla creme fraiche.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, with a paddle attachment cream the butter and lard together. Add the sugar and continue creaming. Add the eggs gradually and mix until well incorporated.
• Then, add each ingredient one at a time and blend in. Turn batter out into a loaf pan (best for doorstops) lined with parchment paper. Bake 1 hour and 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300 degrees F and bake an additional 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan. Wrap in plastic and let mature a few days. If you like, you can dip it or baste it with brandy, wrap it in cheesecloth, and store in a cool place for months (maybe even decades).

Steps:

• Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.
• Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)
• Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.
• Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.
• When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Grease and line the base of two 20cm springform cake tins with baking parchment.
• Stir together the oil and sugar, add the eggs, flour, baking powder, spices and juices, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until pourable and reasonably runny. Gently fold in the fruit, then divide the batter evenly between the tins. Bake for 20-25 mins or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, then leave to cool.
• When cool, remove from the tins and sandwich the cakes together with jam. Sieve some icing sugar on top to serve.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
• Add eggs, fruit cocktail and vanilla and mix all ingredients well (by hand--do not use electric mixer); batter will seem very thick at first (if you use good fruit cocktail that has mostly fruit, not all juice), but this is the way it should be (the juice in the fruit cocktail is the only liquid in this recipe except, of course, the eggs).
• Pour into a greased 9 inch x 13 inch pan.
• Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
• This cake is best with Fruit Cocktail Cake Icing #7062.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 275ºF.
• Mix eggs, cake mix and applesauce in large bowl until blended. Combine fruit and flour; stir into cake mixture. Pour into 2 (9x5-inch) loaf pans sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake 1 hour 45 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool completely in pans on wire rack. Remove cakes from pans.
• Beat cream cheese, butter and sugar in bowl with mixer until blended. Spread over tops of loaves. Sprinkle with nuts.

Steps:

• Put the sugar, sultanas, currants, raisins, water, cherries, butter or margarine, salt into a saucepan, bringing it to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes
• Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool. Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees / Gas Mark 3
• Grease and line with grease proof paper a 20 cm round cake tin
• Add the egg to the cooled fruit mixture and stir in well. Add the flour and mix well
• Turn into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top and arrange optional almonds on the top.
• Bake for 1.25 - 1.50 hours until risen and golden brown. Cool slightly before turning out. The cake improves with keeping.

Steps:

• Preheat the over to 350F (180C). Butter an 8x8 baking dish.
• In a big bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar just until it all comes together, about 30 seconds, no more.
• Add the flour (and baking powder if using) and wisk together just until the flour disappears and there are no more lumps, about 45 seconds, no more. The batter will be quite thick and there won't be a lot of it.
• Spread the fruit over the bottom of the dish and spread the batter over. It will barely cover the fruit and it'll look like it's not enough, but it will be great. Alternatively you can mix the fruit with the batter.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes depending on your oven. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean when the cake is ready.

Steps:

• Place raisins in a bowl. Add enough grand Marnier/Cointreau to cover them. Cover bowl and leave for 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 150°C.
• In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar.
• Add the eggs one at a time. If mixture looks a bit like splitting, add a little flour.
• Add sifted flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and Grand Marnier. Mix together.
• Gently fold in soaked raisins, dried chopped apricots, sultanas, chopped peel, cherries, walnuts and hazelnuts.
• Spoon the cake mix into 2 greased and lined 22cm spring form tins.
• Bake cakes for 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours.
• Remove and cool on wire rack. Once cool spray with more alcohol and wrap in cling film. Keep cakes in cool dry place until you ice/decorate them.
• ICING: Gently heat jam until spreadable. Spread over top and edges of cake.
• Roll out marzipan very thinly to the circumference of cake, also a strip around width of cake.
• Place marzipan on cake-gently pinch strip around top and side to stick them together. Repeat this with the icing. Mix together icing sugar, egg white and a few drops of food colouring into a smooth paste. Put into icing bag and decorate as desired.

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch (23cm) round cake pan with parchment paper and set aside. Position the oven rack to just below the center of the oven so that when the cake is in the oven it will be central. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses until the mixture is light and fluffy and pale in color. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding 1 tablespoon of flour along with each egg, to help prevent the mixture from curdling. Add 6 eggs and then check the consistency of the batter; it should be a "dropping" consistency, which means that if you lift a spoonful of the mixture out of the bowl and turn the spoon over, the mixture should drop off the spoon in 2 to 3 seconds. Add more eggs, 1 at a time, until the batter reaches a "dropping" consistency is reached.
• In a separate large bowl, mix the remaining flour with all of the remaining ingredients, except the brandy. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until just incorporated. Spoon batter into the prepared cake tin, and level the surface. Bake in the center of the oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. As cooking times can vary considerably in different ovens, check the cake regularly, covering the top with a sheet of parchment if the cake starts to brown too quickly; begin checking for doneness after 1 1/2 hours. To test if the cake is cooked, insert a skewer and then remove it; if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked; otherwise bake for a little longer. Also listen to the cake; if you can still hear it bubbling then it isn't cooked through.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Then spoon the brandy on top. Set aside until completely cooled. Remove the cake from the pan and then wrap it in parchment paper and then aluminum foil before storing it in a cool, dry place.
• The cake may be eaten immediately but is best left about a month before decorating so that it has time to "mature."

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs and granulated sugar on low speed to thoroughly combine, about 1 minute. Raise the speed and whip until the mixture becomes pale and thick, 5 to 6 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the cream in a slow, steady stream and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
• Add the flour mixture in 2 to 3 additions, mixing well to fully and smoothly combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer, then sprinkle generously with turbinado or sanding sugar.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs), 65 to 75 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool the cake completely in the pan.
• For the fruit: Combine the fruit and granulated sugar in a medium bowl and toss well to combine. Macerate at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours before serving.
• To unmold the cooled cake, run a small offset spatula around the outside edge, then release the outer ring of the pan. Slide an offset spatula under the cake all the way around and gently transfer to a serving platter. Serve slices of cake with a spoonful or two of fruit and their juices.

Steps:

• Lay watermelon on its side. With a large, non-serrated, sharp butcher knife, cut both ends off to form straight edges. Turn watermelon so that it is sitting flat-sides up and down. Carefully trim the rhind off, so it resembles the smooth, straight curve of a round cake.
• Arrange pineapple, strawberries and kiwi however you wish atop the cake and around the bottom. If it is being prepared ahead of time, leave the tops on the strawberries to preserve their freshness.
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• The best way I found to serve it was for our guests to pluck their fruit of choice off the "cake" while I sliced chunks of watermelon as requested.

Steps:

• Place dried fruit, mixed peel, cherries, water, brandy, sugar and butter in pan.
• Heat gently, bring the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Take of heat and add the bicarb soda, stirring through, mixture will foam up a bit. Leave until cold.
• Sift flours and spices.
• Mix the eggs through the fruit mixture, then combine with dry ingredient.
• Pour into a lined 18cm square cake pan or 18cm round cake pan.
• Wet your hand and flatten top of cake.
• Bake at 150C for 1 hour.
• Cool in pan covered with a tea towel.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. Melt the sugar, butter and 225ml water in a large saucepan. Once melted, add the raisins, sultanas, currants and mixed peel. Bring to a gentle boil, and stirring occasionally, cook until reduced and softened, around 10-15 mins. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
• Tip the flour, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the cooled fruit mixture and stir, then add the eggs and mix to combine. Bake for 45-55 mins until dark brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.

Steps:

• Pour milk into medium bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Layer 1/2 of the cake cubes, fruit and pudding in 3-quart serving bowl. Repeat layers once.
• Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8x8-inch baking pans.
• Bring water and raisins to a boil in a saucepan; cook until raisins are plump, about 2 minutes. Drain and cool raisins; reserve raisin water.
• Mix 3 cups flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Place pecans and 2 tablespoons flour in a resealable plastic bag; close and shake bag until pecans are coated. Pour pecans into a colander and shake off excess flour.
• Whisk sugar, oil, eggs, and cooled raisin water together in a bowl; fold in candied fruit. Stir flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, into sugar mixture until fully incorporated; fold in raisins and pecans. Fill the prepared pans a little over half full.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Lower temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C); bake until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 more hour.