Our neighbour Michael in Wellington gave us a fruitcake for Christmas a while ago. It was so delicious, and since then, I am making Christmas cake as I love dried fruit and rum! I tried many ways, and I think this gives us the cake we like. To get the best result with moisture and flavour of the liquor, I recommend to make this cake around the end of November.
<Ingredients>
500g of combination of dried fruits – chopped.
*I usually use black currants and raisin, apricots, prunes, candied citrus and candied cherries. If you can find candied ginger, I recommend to use it.
1 orange
90g of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
double shot of espresso (or 1/4 cup of hot water and 1 teaspoon of instant coffee)
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 cup of slivered almond and chopped walnuts (or pecans)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
Dark rum
<Instruction>
1. Heat a pot and melt butter. Add all chopped dried fruits, brown sugar, orange zest, squeezed orange juice, coffee and spices. Bring to boil. Cook for 15 mins with a very low heat. Turn off the heat, and leave it for a few hours to a day.
2. Heat the oven at 150C.
3. Whisk eggs and add to the mixture of the fruits.
4. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda, and mix it. Add all to 3.
5. Add almond and walnut to 4, and mix it.
5. In a baking pan, put a parchment paper, and tip the mixture.
6. Bake for 1.5 – 2 hours. Insert a toothpick and check to see it comes out clean. Take the cake out from the oven.
7. With a skewer, make a lot of holes on the cake. Brush 2 tablespoons of dark rum (or any of your favourite liquor). Cover the cake well.
8. Brush 1-2 tablespoons of the liquor once every few days.