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Rich, dense, boozy Christmas cake with dried fruits cooked in beer and rum

The Last-Minute Christmas Cake

Rich, dense, boozy Christmas cake with dried fruits cooked in beer and rum
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Makes: 8 large slices
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Ingredients
  

For the fruit

  • 400 gms mixed candied peel (I used lemon and orange, use any variety you like! see notes for more)
  • 50 gms dried cherries or glace cherries
  • 200 gms dried cranberries
  • 50 gms raisins
  • 3/4th cup plus 2 tbsps beer (225 ml; any kind is ok)
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp whiskey or dark rum (100 ml)
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (60 ml)
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 2 tbsps honey or molasses

For the cake

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 gms)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder (sounds like a lot but the cake is dense with the alcohol and fruit, and needs help to rise)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1/4 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
  • 1/4 tsp clove powder
  • 3/4 cup butter, room temperature (200 gms)
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar (215 gms, see notes)
  • 5 eggs, at room temperature (I don't have an eggless version)

Instructions

  • You can start this recipe 3 days before you plan to cut the cake, or if you would like to feed it with rum a little longer, bake it a few days earlier than that. On the first day, prepare the fruit. In a food processor (that can handle some heavy chopping!), add all of the dried fruit and blitz till finely chopped. A few larger pieces are great for texture, don't worry about mincing it completely. Add to a a large, deep saucepan with all the other ingredients for the fruit.
  • Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes on low heat, stirring often. Set aside to cool completely at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
  • On the second day, when ready to bake, grease a 9" springform tin with sides at least 3" high, then line with three layers of baking paper (see notes). Preheat the oven to 150 C. Take the cooked fruit out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature while you make the batter.
  • In a large, deep mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed till pale and creamy, then gently beat in the eggs one at a time. The batter is thick and heavy so if you have a stand mixer, it's useful in this recipe.
  • Sift in the flour, spices and baking powder in a large bowl. Fold gently to incorporate about halfway through, then add the fruit along with any liquid that may have released. Now fold again to combine, running the hand mixer through the batter if needed until fairly smooth. The batter is quite thick.
  • Spoon into the prepared tin and smoothen the top. At this stage you can add some sliced almonds or other nuts to decorate the top if you wish.
  • Bake for 2 hours, then cover the top loosely with foil and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Ovens vary and this batter is dense and heavy so if you need to add to the baking time, that's absolutely fine. In my experience the top does develop some cracks as it rises, but they mostly close up as the cake cools.
  • Let the cake cool completely at room temperature (could take about 6 hours), then poke holes in the top with a toothpick or broader instrument, and drizzle two to three tablespoons of rum, brandy or whiskey over the holes and through any cracks on the surface. Allow to soak, then cover the surface of the cake with the paper overhang, and close the tin tightly with foil. Let it rest overnight. I started this cake a few days earlier and continued to feed it with rum for 3 nights before slicing it. But, even if you rest it only overnight, that's fine too!
  • On the third day, after the overnight rest, decorate the cake! Cut out paper stars (I used one of the sheets of baking paper used to line the pan), place them on the top of the cake and dust icing sugar all over the top. Lift the stars off and you'll have a pretty pattern! Do this just before serving, because the sugar gets absorbed into the top of the cake once it's covered and stored. The texture and flavours get better the longer it lasts! Cut into it and enjoy the rich, moist slices :) It will stay at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight tin and longer if it's cool where you live (ideally, it shouldn't be refrigerated). Merry Christmas!

Notes

*You should have about 700 gms to 750 gms of fruit (all available at Arife in Mumbai, and usually most dry fruit stores in other places will have them. I found them at Ajfan Dates & Nuts / The Dry Fruit House in Bangalore). There are also options on Amazon if you can't get to a store (affiliate links below). Feel free to play around with the varieties and use more or less of your favourite dried fruits. Dried fig also works beautifully! You can add about 1/2 cup of any finely chopped nuts to the batter in step 5.
*Soft brown sugar is recommend here, like Tate&Lyle. When I made the cake this time to update the photos, I only had light brown sugar on hand so the colour is paler. Dark brown or muscovado is great for a richer flavour and colour.
*To line the cake tin, I pressed down three large rectangular sheets of baking paper into it, placing one vertically, then one horizontally, then one vertically again so that the sides are well-covered and there is enough of an overhang. This does mean the sides will have a few dents in it where the paper overlaps or creases. If you want to avoid it, cut out three circles of paper for the base instead, and grease the sides then line them with three long strips of paper for a more symmetrical look.
*Prep-time does not include overnight chilling or cake cooling time.