Light Fruit Cake

English fruit cakes are made with pound cake recipe – 1 lb of eggs, butter, sugar and flour each.  However, as one adds more fruits, as in rich fruit cakes, then one has to increase the proportion of flour.  For rich fruit cakes, one would not have any raising agents and bake at 140 C.  However, I have found that by lowering the baking temperature and thereby increasing the duration of baking, one gets a more moist cake.

As for light fruit cake, I prefer to use self raising flour, which is McDougalls Supreme Sponge premium self raising flour.   Technically, you can use plain flour and add a little raising agent.   One would bake a light fruit cake at 160 C, for a shorter period.

I am baking three different light fruit cakes this Christmas – one for my cousin Margaret who wants only sultanas in her cake, one for Sissi, a friend who is taking the cake to Nigeria, and she wants a range of different fruits including ginger but not apricots and one for myself to share with my friends. 

Technically, you can add any type of dried or preserved fruits you want into your fruit cake. 

For Sissi who will take the cake to Nigeria next week.

6 oz  butter

6 oz caster sugar

3 large eggs

7 oz Supreme Sponge flour

2 oz naturally glacéd cherries – quartered

5 oz raisins – halved 

5 oz sultanas – halved

2½ oz ginger in syrup – julienne

2 oz flaked almonds

½ tsp orange oil + ½ tsp vanilla extract + ½ tsp lemon oil

1 tbsp Golden Syrup – this inverted sugar will keep the cake moist

1 tbsp ginger syrup

3 fl oz vodka to soak the fruits for a day or two + more to inject into the cake after baking

This the bottom of Sissi's cake - you can see the smooth finish because I have used parchment paper with the 'Pushpan' baking tin. The manufacturer of the Pushpan instructs users not to line their baking tin and I disagree with the manufacturer's instructions. 

      

Sissi's cake for Nigeria - There is an improvement on the side because I manage to use some parchment paper but the top has an indentation and it took 2 hours 50 minutes to bake. If you are worried about the top's indentation, then add a spoonful of flour to the cake mixture and this will stop this. 

For my Cousin Magaret who will take the cake with her to Canada - this cake was baked in a German spring form baking tin and it took less than 2 hours 15 minutes to bake. 

• 3 large free range eggs
• 6 oz butter
• 6 oz sugar
• 7 oz Supreme Sponge flour
• 14 oz sultanas – halved – soak in 4 tbsp vodka for a couple of days
• 1 tbsp Golden Syrup
• 1 tbsp any inverted sugar syrup 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp of vodka to soak the fruits + more to inject into the cooked cake

These pictures are of the cake for Canada [for my cousin] and it is the last of the three cakes to be baked.  You can see the top of the cake is flat and the side of the cake has a better finish than the 'pushpan' baking tin. In addition, it took less time to bake - less than 2 hours 15 minutes.  Perhaps this German spring form tin has a metal which allows for faster baking. 

This the bottom of the cake baked in the German spring form baking tin.  It has smooth bottom and side, perfect for icing or covering with marzipan. 

and for myself and my friends

6 oz  butter

6 oz caster sugar

3 large eggs

7 oz Supreme Sponge flour

3 oz naturally glacéd cherries – quartered

4 oz soft dried apricots – diced

1 oz mixed peel + 1 oz homemade orange peel – diced

6 oz sultanas – halved

½ tsp orange oil + ½ tsp vanilla extract + ½ tsp lemon oil

1 tbsp Golden Syrup – this inverted sugar will keep the cake moist

1 tbsp ginger syrup

3 fl oz vodka to soak the fruits for a day or two + more to inject into the cake after baking 

Sissi's and my cakes will be baked in a 7 inch round 'PushPan' baking tin and my cousin in a 6.5 inch round spring form baking tin.

Method

1. Prepare fruits and soak fruits in 3 fl oz of any alcohol or any flavoured vodka for a couple of days, stirring occasionally.
2. Double line a 7 inch round baking tin and use baking strip to protect the cake.  If a ‘pushpan’ baking tin is used, then line the bottom only with parchment paper and grease with butter and flour the sides.
3. Cream butter and sugar lightly
4. Add the eggs one at a time, and hand mix after each addition.
5. Flour the fruit mixture and set aside.
6. Add the syrups, vanilla extract and other flavourings to the cake mixture and hand mix.
7. Fold in the flour – and do not over mix.
8. Hand fold in the floured fruits and place the cake mixture into the prepared baking tin.
9. Refrigerate the cake over night prior to baking.
10. Wrap the outside of the baking tin with baking strips before baking.
11. Bake the 7 inch in a pre-heated 160 C convectional oven [fan switched off] for about 2.5 to 2 hrs 50 minutes hours, on the bottom shelf on top of a pizza stone. 
12. When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the baking tin.
13. Then inject the cake with 4 tbsp of alcohol while the cake is still warm. 
14. When the cake has cooled, remove all the parchment paper and wrap in new parchment paper and store in an airtight container for at least six weeks prior to serving or decorating.. 
15. It is a good idea to freeze the cake for a week or s o before eating, as this process makes the cake more moist. 

This cake is for me and my friends - the first to bake and it took 2 hours 25 minutes to bake.  I am not happy with the sides and when I bake Sissi's cake, I will line the side of the baking tin with parchment paper. 

From the pictures above, you could see I have used a 'PushPan' baking tin.  This baking tin does not like one to line the tin with baking parchment.  The cake will go out of shape if I were to line the tin.  

If you want the sides of the cake to have a smooth finish, then you have to use traditional baking tins and not this new technology baking 'pushpan' baking tin.  

I followed the instructions of the manufacturer for their Pushpan by not lining the baking tin and because of this I have the above terrible outcome.  I baked my own cake first and I was really disappointed that I had followed the instructions of the Pushpan manufacturer.  So, if you were to have a Pushpan and you wanted your cake to have smooth sides and bottom - then line your Pushpan baking tin with parchment paper!

However, when I cover the cake with marzipan and icing, nobody can see the state of the cake.  LOL  But this is besides the point!  

This is a traditional English recipe and I therefore have used Imperial Measures.  However, if you were to use metric units, then you could follow the following approximate conversions.


3 large free range eggs
170 grams butter [or 6 oz]
170 grams sugar [or 6 oz]
200 grams flour [or 7 oz]
400 grams of a mixture of any dried fruits [or 14 oz] - according to your own choice
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 tbsp syrup from the ginger preserve
flavours - ½ tsp orange oil + ½ tsp vanilla extract + ½ tsp lemon oil
3 tbsp any alcohol for soaking fruits and 4 tbsp alcohol for injecting into the cooked cake

And if you were really lazy, then you could even put the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, syrups and flavourings into a Kenwood Chef bowl, and you could use a K beater to mix the ingredients into a batter and you could fold in the floured fruits, and you would not find any difference between this method and the creaming method. 

And finally feeding the cake with alcohol.  In the old days, one would feed the cake with a teaspoon over many days / weeks.  However, we have large syringe for food use nowadays - syringes which holds about 40 ml of alcohol at any one time.  So I inject the cake with alcohol nowadays - just once, while the cake is warm, so it can absorb the alcohol easily.  I then wrap the cake, store it in a Ziplock bag in an airtight container, in a cool room - away from your central heating hot pipes - and the best place would be your larder or basement - if you have one.  The cake will keep for at least six months.  

I would recommend injecting the cake from the top in several places and allow the cake to stand with the top of the facing up for a number of weeks [a minimum of six weeks - and the longer the better].  

When it is time to cover the cake with marzipan, then turn its bottom up, where there are no holes or blemishes and cover the cake with marzipan / icing accordingly.  You will of course have to brush the cake with warmed apricot glaze  before covering it with marzipan, so the almond paste could stick to the cake.