Easy Christmas Cake Recipe

Ingredients overview

• mixed dried fruit -sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries, candied orange and lemon peeling
• rum - no need to add any if you use ready soaked fruit
• butter -soft but not melted
• dark brown sugar - for a deep colour and flavour
• eggs - at room temperature
• baking powder - the leavening agent in this recipe
• plain flour - no need for self-raising flour
• orange extract - or any other extract
• mixed spice - or pumpkin pie spices
• ground almonds

Easy swaps

With everything I cook and bake, I try to make it as easy as possibly, without compromising on taste. And what I love the most about the homemade goodies is that there is always a choice of ingredients that can be used. And make it budget-friendly too.

I opted for a bag of mixed dried fruit that had sultanas, currants, raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, and added dried cranberries from a separate bag. But you can add other dried fruit too, with dates and apricots being particularly nice.

The orange extract can be swapped for orange juice and zest, or lemon juice and zest, or even lime. Or omitted, the rum does brings quite a lot of flavour anyway.

I used dark brow sugar, but muscovado sugar is another great addition - I absolutely love its colour and the fantastic taste it adds to any bake.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

First, start by soaking the fruit in alcohol - I chose rum, for its sharpness, rum usually goes beautifully in baking, for you can go for any brandy, sherry, whisky, etc

• in a pan set over a low heat, add the dried fruit and peeling, pour the brandy over, and cover the pan with the lid
• leave to simmer for 10 minutes so that the fruit can soak up the alcohol
• remove form the heat, and leave the lid on for a further 5 minutes

• to make the sponge, beat together the brown sugar with butter until you get a smooth thick paste
• add the eggs one by one, eating well after each addition to avoid the mixture curding

• add the ground almonds, mixed spice, baking powder and orange extract
• in goes the flour and soaked fruit
• mix well to ensure the fruit are well distributed, and transfer the mixture to a round cake tin that is greased and floured
• bake in the preheated oven at 120 degrees Celsius (248 Fahrenheit) for one hour, then increase the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius (300 Fahrenheit) and bake for a further 30 minutes until light brown and firm to touch

How to decorate the fruit cake for Christmas

If you were to ask me, this cake is sheer perfection the way it is: sweet, but not overly sweet, with a good hint of booze coming from the soaked fruit, and a lovely light sponge.

Decorating it does make it more christmassy though, so I could always go with it. If the traditional way involves using fondant and marzipan for a festive touch, my fruit cake uses a rum-flavoured icing. It's a lot more delicious, and it does the job amazingly well, no need for that much sweetness.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar, add the rum and milk, and mix to get a smooth thin paste that will be spread over the cake. The dripping actually makes the cake even more impressive than covered it all over, but do go for the style you like the best.

I added some christmassy sprinkles for the wow factor too, and you can go for any other decorations you like - I also had some dried orange slices and royal icing stars which are lovely, and the shops usually have some pretty cake toppers at this time of the year too.

Expert tips

Soaking the dried fruit in rum not only adds tons of flavour, but also makes the fruit juicy and delicious. Some shops sell ready-soaked mixed dried fruit, if you use those, you can skip this step.

Allow the cake to cool down completely before adding the icing, or it will just run off it and make a mess. Any decorations can be added after the icing is on.

The cake can be stored at room temperature for weeks, it's literally one of the longest-lasting cakes, as the alcohol and dried fruit extend the shelf life.