Merry Christmas!

Moist Fruit Cake Recipe

Yields: Two 7 inch round cakes

INGREDIENTS:

180g plain flour
100g almond meals
1 tsp mixed spice (Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and coriander)
1 tsp baking powder

250g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
30g orange juice
Zest (outer orange skin) of 1 orange

1 kg mixed dried fruits - cranberry, golden raisin, dark raisin and apricot (soaked in 200ml or more of rum/brandy for 2 – 3 weeks or up to 1 year)

Utensil:  Two 7 inches round pan

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 C.
2. Grease and line 2 round baking tins. Line inside with baking parchment, then wrap a double layer of paper/newspaper around outside and tie with string to secure.
3. Sift together, flour, baking powder, almond meals and spices.
4. In a bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add in egg until nicely mixed together
5. Add in honey and orange zest, mix well.  
6. Add in half of the flour mixture, beat to combine.  Then add in milk and orange juice and mix till incorporated.  Fold in the balance of the flour mixture with spatula until well combined.
7. Lastly, fold in the soaked mixed fruits and mix well.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and level it
9. Bake at preheated oven for 70 – 80 minutes.
10. Remove cake from oven.  Allow to cool in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack. When cold, wrap the cake tightly in a double layer foil or cling film in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator (up to several months). 

NOTES:

1. I soaked the dried fruits in rum and brandy for one year in an air tight container that I kept refrigerated. I would check the dried fruits frequently and add more alcohol as it got soaked up.
2. If you don't have time, soaking the dried fruits for 2 weeks is good enough too.
3. I normally leave cake in the fridge for 4 - 5 days to let it set before cutting. The hardest part of the whole recipe is to wait patiently for the cake to set!
4. As you can see I did not use cherry in my mixed dried fruits.  I find it is not that healthy as a lot of colouring added.
5. If you can't get the store bought almond meals, just blend raw almond in a food processor until fine.