These individual fruit cakes with their Christmas pudding-inspired decoration make the ideal gift this Christmas. You can buy mini cake tins from specialist cookware shops, but using clean food tins is a more resourceful option.
100 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
100 g light muscovado sugar
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
100 g plain flour
1/2 Tbsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
For the decoration
Icing sugar, to dust
125 g white ready-to-roll fondant icing
40 g green ready-to-roll fondant icing
15 g red ready-to-roll fondant icing
You will also need
4 x 325g sweetcorn tins (or similar), see GH TIP
3 .5cm holly cutter
Directions
Step 1For the soaked fruit, in a large non-metallic bowl, combine the dried fruit and mixed peel. In a small pan, gently heat the rum, orange zest and juice until warm. Remove from heat and stir in the maple syrup and butter, to melt. Pour over the fruit, stir, cover and leave to soak overnight at room temperature.
Step 2Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3. Carefully grease and line the tins (see GH TIP) with baking parchment.
Step 3For the cakes, using a freestanding mixer or a handheld electric whisk and large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5min. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sift in flour and spices and beat briefly to combine. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the soaked fruit mixture (and any liquid).
Step 4Divide cake mix between the prepared tins and level. Bake for 20min, then turn oven down to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2 and bake for a further 50min or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 1hr, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 5To decorate the cakes, lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar. Roll out the white fondant icing to 1mm thick. Using a small sharp knife, cut out 4 splash marks, large enough to cover the tops of the cakes, re-rolling trimmings as needed.
Step 6 Next, roll out the green fondant to 1mm thick and stamp out 8 holly leaves using the cutter. Divide the red fondant into 12 pieces and roll into balls to make berries. Using a little water, stick the white fondant pieces on to each cake, to look like cream. Top with the holly leaves and berries, using a little more water, if needed, to stick. Serve.
GH Tip:
Make sure your sweetcorn (or similar) tins are well washed, dried and the lip of each is completely removed with a tin opener, leaving the base on.
To store:
Once decorated, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
To gift:
Wrap individually in cellophane or baking parchment.
Per cake (with decoration):
Calories: 989
Protein: 10g
Total fat: 25g
Saturates: 14g
Carbs: 165g
Total sugars: 141g
Fibre: 6g
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The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
