This Boiled Fruit Cake for Christmas is a jazzed up version of my Old Fashioned Boiled Fruit Cake. You can make this type of fruit cake nearer to Christmas as it does not need to mature like a traditional Christmas cake.
Once you’ve made this cake, store it in an airtight tin, or wrapped in greaseproof paper and then aluminium foil. Then a few days before Christmas decorate it with a dried and glacé fruit and nut topping. Ideally you should make it at least a week before Christmas, but I have even made it on Christmas Eve in the past and decorated it as soon as it had cooled. It looked and tasted lovely on Christmas Day!
Equipment you will need to make this Boiled Fruit Cake for Christmas
This cake is very easy to make and needs no special equipment. Apart from the usual things you will find in your kitchen make sure you have a 9 inch / 23 cm cake tin, some greaseproof or parchment paper and ideally a cake stand.
Buying Glacé Fruit
Nowadays supermarkets only seem to stock glacé cherries and cut mixed peel so I often order most of my glacé fruit online. How you decorate this cake however is up to you – it’s fine to use just dried fruit and nuts or a mixture of these and glacé fruits if you have them.
Boiled Fruit Cake for Christmas
10
servings40
minutes1
hourIngredients
- The Boiled Fruit Cake
8 ounces / 225 grams / 1 cup currants
6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup sultanas
6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup raisins
4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup mixed peel
4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup dried apricots (chopped into raisin size pieces)
4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup glacé cherries (halved or quartered according to size)
8 ounces / 225 grams / 1 cup butter
6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup soft dark brown sugar
5 fluid ounces / 150 ml / ⅔ cup sherry
2 oranges grated rind and juice
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 large eggs
4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup wholemeal flour
6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
- Christmas Fruit and Nut Topping
3 tablespoons apricot jam
1 tablespoons water
Dried fruits, glace fruits and mixed nuts of your choice for the top.
Directions
- The Boiled Fruit Cake
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- Grease and line a 9 inch / 23 cm cake tin with greaseproof/parchment paper.
- Put all the dried and glacé fruit, butter, sugar, sherry, orange rind and 6 fluid ounces of orange juice into a large saucepan (if you don’t have 6 fluid ounces of orange juice from your two oranges make it up with water).
- Bring the mixture to the boil on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, again stirring occasionally.
- Pour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Stir in the eggs.
- Sieve the flours and spices together and fold into the mixture. If there is any bran left in the sieve from the wholemeal flour, tip this in as well.
- Pour into the prepared tin and level out.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours covering with a sheet of baking parchment after the first hour.
- The cake is cooked when it is risen and firm to the touch.
- Leave in the tin until cold.
- Store in an airtight tin until you are ready to decorate it for Christmas.
- Christmas Fruit and Nut Topping
- Put 3 tablespoons of apricot jam and 1 tablespoon of water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil stirring continuously. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, still stirring.
- Push the contents of the pan through a sieve into a bowl to remove any pieces of apricot, to make a smooth apricot glaze.
- Place the cake on a cake stand or serving plate and brush the top with the apricot glaze.
- Arrange your fruit and nuts on top of the cake.
- Brush the fruit and nuts with the remaining apricot glaze.
- Tie a ribbon around the cake to finish.
My Glacé Fruit Christmas Cake
The other main Christmas cake I like to make is my Glacé Fruit Christmas Cake. This is an excellent alternative to the traditional rich Christmas cake and can be made right up to the last week before Christmas – it does not need to mature in the same way as the traditional cake. You can decorate it like this Boiled Fruit Cake For Christmas, with dried fruits, glacé fruits and nuts, but I prefer to cover and decorate it with Marzipan (Almond Icing) and Royal Icing.
All my Christmas Recipes
I checked the other day and was very pleased to see that I now have around 20 Christmas recipes – see my new Christmas page for some classic recipes and some alternative ideas – here are all of my Christmas recipes:
Happy Baking!
Tanya
Hello Tanya,
Thank you so much for all your marvellous recipes over the past year. They’re all filed under Recipes (surprise!) on my iPad to be consulted as needed.
Haven’t even the time to make your delicious last minute Christmas cake but when all the busy chaos is over, I plan to make it anyway, for the New Year! Ken and I love your Tea Room and want to wish you all a Happy and Healthy Christmas and New Year.
With love from
Annette and Ken Grindlay,
Devoted customers!!
Hello Annette and Ken,
Thank you very much for your comments, I’m really pleased that you love the recipes and have filed them under Recipes of course!
I hope you manage to make the Christmas cake, it’s lovely all year round. Do look out for my Tipsy Cake recipe which will be posted on Scones Plus More ready for New Year celebrations!
I wish you a very merry and healthy Christmas and New Year!
Tanya