You’ll need to soak the fruit for this Christmas cake at least a day before baking the cake, so remember to shop for your ingredients in advance.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
20
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs
Ingredients
400 g (14oz) sweet and tangy dried fruit mix
100 g (3 1/2oz) pitted dates finely chopped
100 g (3 1/2oz) dried mango finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 orange
100 ml (3 1/2 fl oz) spiced rum
1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste
175 g (6oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
175 g (6oz) dark brown muscovado sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
175 g (6oz) plain flour
2 Tbsp. desiccated coconut
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
50 g (2oz) stem ginger in syrup, chopped (reserve the syrup to
use in desserts)
Directions
Step 1
Put the dried fruit, dates, mango, orange zest and juice, rum and vanilla into a large non-metallic bowl or a food bag. Mix, then cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for at least 24hr, or for up to 2 days.
Step 2
When ready to bake the cake, heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2. Grease and line a 20.5cm (8in) deep round cake tin with baking parchment.
Step 3
Put butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a handheld electric whisk until light and creamy. Gradually whisk in eggs, adding a little flour if the mix begins to split. Fold in the remaining flour, coconut and spices, followed by the stem ginger.
Step 4
Tip in the soaked fruit, stir well, spoon mixture into the tin and level the surface. Bake for 1hr 45min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then remove (keeping it in its parchment paper) and wrap in a double thickness of foil. Store in a cool, dark place to mature for up to 3 months.
Step 5
Feed the cake every 3-4 weeks with 2tbsp spiced rum – to do this, use a skewer to make small holes in the top and bottom of the cake, using 1tbsp for each side. Re-wrap carefully after each addition. Do this up until 1 week before decorating your cake to ensure it has sufficient time to dry out.
Replace the spiced rum with cooled, spiced tea for a non-alcoholic version.
The best Christmas cake recipes - from fig and ginger to gin & tea, there's something for everyone
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
