Saturday, 20 November 2021

Tropical Christmas Cake

 


Ingredients

  • 400 g sweet and tangy dried fruit mix
  • 100 g pitted dates finely chopped
  • 100 g  dried mango finely chopped
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange
  • 100 ml  spiced rum
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste
  • 175 g  unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
  • 175 g  dark brown muscovado sugar
  • 3 medium eggs, beaten
  • 175 g plain flour
  • 2 tbsp. desiccated coconut
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 tsp. mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 50 g stem ginger in syrup, chopped (reserve the syrup to use in desserts)

Directions

  1. Put the dried fruit, dates, mango, orange zest and juice, rum and vanilla into a large non-metallic bowl or a food bag. Mix, then cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for at least 24hr, or for up to 2 days.
  2. When ready to bake the cake, heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2. Grease and line a 20.5cm (8in) deep round cake tin with baking parchment.
  3. Put butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a handheld electric whisk until light and creamy. Gradually whisk in eggs, adding a little flour if the mix begins to split. Fold in the remaining flour, coconut and spices, followed by the stem ginger.
  4. Tip in the soaked fruit, stir well, spoon mixture into the tin and level the surface. Bake for 1hr 45min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then remove (keeping it in its parchment paper) and wrap in a double thickness of foil. Store in a cool, dark place to mature for up to 3 months.
  5. Feed the cake every 3-4 weeks with 2tbsp spiced rum – to do this, use a skewer to make small holes in the top and bottom of the cake, using 1tbsp for each side. Re-wrap carefully after each addition. Do this up until 1 week before decorating your cake to ensure it has sufficient time to dry out. 

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