Fruitcake lovers often have to wait for Christmas, maybe Easter, to enjoy a lovely slice or two of a fruit-laden cake. Good fruitcakes often take a while to bake and need days to weeks of resting time to fully come into their full potential. This version quickly deals with the long baking time and comes in at just over an hour. No maturation needed other than a cool-down under a blanket of foil for about 2 -3 hours, at most. The cake is rich, dark and delicious and is filled with a sweet, slightly tart fruity goodness.
The ingredients come together in a saucepan and a can of crushed pineapple with the syrup is the star ingredient, providing moistness, sweetness and tartness. A handful of store cupboard ingredients will deliver a rich and delicious fruitcake in no time at all.
This cake gets better with each day and can easily last for up to 3-4 weeks in an airtight container.
Now fruitcake is readily available anytime.
Ingredients for Cake
- 125 g butter
- 2 c mixed dried fruitcake mix
- 1 c sugar (brown or white)
- 450 g crushed pineapple in syrup (use syrup as well)
- 2 tsps mixed spice
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger (optional)
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (optional)
- 2 tsps grated orange zest (optional)
- 1/4 c mixed peel (optional)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 c self-raising flour
- 1 c cake flour
- 2 eggs
*NOTES
- dried cranberries or cherries can be added as part of the 2 cups of dried fruit.
Method to make Cake
- Grease and line the base and sides of a 23 cm square pan.
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
- Measure out butter, sugar, pineapple with syrup, fruit, zest, mixed peel if using any and mixed spice into a heavy-based medium saucepan.
- Bring to boil, stirring frequently, and them simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Take off the heat and stir in bicarbonate of soda. Mixture will bubble and then settle.
- Cool to room temperature.
- Stir in flours and eggs into fruit mixture and mix with a spatula till everything is well combined.
- Turn mixture into prepare pan. Level batter evenly in pan.
- Bake for about 70 minutes till cake is well risen and firm to the touch.
- Remove from oven and cover cake in pan with a layer of foil over the sides of the pan.
- Leave to cool to room temperature, then remove foil and store in an airtight container.
