This delicious Christmas fruit cake hides its bejewelled glace cherry topping until it’s removed from the tin and tipped upside down.
Ingredients
- 500g mixed dried fruit
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup orange juice
- 50g butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 400g mixed coloured glace cherries
Method
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Step 1Preheat oven to 140C. Line a 20cm square cake tin with 3 layers of baking paper. Place a baking pan full of water on the bottom shelf of the oven.
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Step 2Place dried fruit, sugars, orange juice and butter in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to soften fruit. Set aside to cool.
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Step 3Add cinnamon and eggs and mix well. Stir through flour.
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Step 4Arrange glace cherries in the base of the prepared tin. They should cover it completely. Pour over cake batter and smooth the top. Cover the tin with foil, then place in the oven above the tray of water. Bake for 3 hours. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then turn out onto board or rack. Carefully peel back the baking paper to reveal the glace cherry topping.
Recipe Notes
While red glace cherries are readily available, coloured ones are a bit tricky to find. You can find green and yellow ones in speciality food stores, and bags of mixed colours are available in the baking section of some supermarkets.
Replace some of the orange juice with brandy for a boozy cake. Add it after the fruit has boiled so you don’t cook away all of the alcohol.
The tray of water in the oven creates a steaming effect which ensures the cake doesn’t dry out too much during the long cooking time.
Recipe and photo by Greer Worsley.
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