Santa's Fruitcake

A Christmas fruitcake

I have a 20 year-old recipe shared by an elderly aunt. I've been making this fruitcake for the last 6 years for Christmas and Chinese New Year too.

It's not complicated, not too sweet or oily but flavourful and colourful. Don't worry if you don't have rum, I used brandy here. 

Ingredients (A)

250g butter (I used Anchor salted butter)

150g caster sugar (reduced from 200g)

50g flour

1 tbsp golden syrup

½ tsp chocolate emulco

¾ tsp mixed spice

4 pcs eggs, cold (size AA)

Ingredients (B)

40 ml, cold water

220g all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tbsp vanilla essence

½ tsp rose essence

Ingredients (C )

500g mixed fruits

Grate zest and peel from 1pc lemon and 1 pc orange

200g glaced cherried (red and green) – to add to the colours of festivity

12 tbsp of brandy

1. Wash and drip dry ingredients in (C )
2. Line a 10-in square cake pan with thick newspaper (I used 8 layers) and 3 layers of baking paper on bottom and side
3. Pre-heat oven to 150C
4. Beat (A) till light and fluffy
5. Add in eggs one at a time, till well mixed
6. Add in (B), mixed well
7. Add in (C ), mixed well
8. Pour into pan and bake at 150C for 3 hours or until cake skewer comes out clean. If you see the top browning too quickly, you may cover the top of the pan with a layer of baking paper
9. Remove from oven and let it rest for 1 day
10. Sprinkle with 6-7 tbsp of brandy all over the cake
11. Wrap with foil and tie well ...to keep late night fridge raiders away! Hehehe :-D
12. 2 weeks before Christmas, open up and sprinkle another 4-5 tbsp of brandy, wrap and tie well again
13. Serve lightly dusted with confectionery sugar

I made 2 cakes, the 1st, I forgot to add glazed cherries...clumsy me...tastes the same but just that the colours are not attractive enough compared to the 2nd. :-)