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Boil And Bake Fruit Cake/Christmas Cake ......step by step.


Every year I soak dry fruits in rum or brandy by the beginning of November to make fruit cake for Christmas, this year due to some reason I was not able to do so. Christmas is always a month of cakes and cookies and kids were adamant that they want a fruit cake and I was in a dilemma, thankfully I came across thingsforboys.com and was happy to know that you can actually boil the dry fruits with the butter and water and cool it and mix it with the dry ingredients...ta da...fruit cake is ready. I immediately tried the cake and it came out wonderful.

A boiled fruit cake does not contain alcohol; yet is moist. It does not need weeks to age, just a day or two would do wonders. I brushed some brandy to the baked cake, if you can tolerate alcohol then go ahead otherwise skip it.

This cake is for all those busy men, women out there who very badly want to make a fruit cake, but was not able to soak the dry fruits......Christmas is just around the corner, don't wait anymore to  bake this spiced fruit cake for your loved ones.

Some suggestion I would recommend is to increase the water to 1/4 cup or even up to 1/2 cup depending on the need to make it a soft fluffy consistency.

Use dark brown sugar instead of white sugar + jaggery (I always add 1 tbsp of jaggery to 1 cup of white sugar to substitute the brown sugar). But of course if you are short of brown sugar go ahead and add white sugar + jaggery/molasses.  Adding dark brown sugar will give a more intense dark color to the cake.

I added a whole cinnamon stick and crushed dry ginger to the ingredients to boil and removed it after it is cooled. You can either powder them or add them like I did.


How I made the cake:
Butter: 150 gm/ 1 1/2 stick/ 3/4 cup.
Sultanas: 200 gm.
Currents: 200 gm.
Brown sugar: 130 gm, I used white sugar + 1tbsp of molasses.
Dry ginger: 1 inch, crushed or can add 1 tsp ground ginger.
Cinnamon: 1 stick, crushed or can add 1 tsp ground cinnamon.
Soda powder: 1 tsp.
Water: 1 to 1 1/2 cup, I used 200 ml cup.
Baking powder: 2 tsp.
Eggs: 2. lightly beaten.
Flour: 300 gm.
Brandy: 1/4 cup for brushing, optional.

Method:
1.  In a bowl combine, currants, sultanas, butter...

2. Add baking soda and sugar ( I used white sugar plus molasses).

3. And add water and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and simmer it for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

4. While the mixture is cooling grease two loaf pans and preheat oven to 180 degree C.  Combine the eggs and gently beat it with a fork and stir into the cooled cake mixture.  Fold in the sifted baking powder and flour. Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.

Remove the cake and brush top with some brandy. The cake is best eaten after 2 days of ageing.

Share this easy fruit cake with your loved ones this Christmas.

An Update:
December 21, 2011.




Today when I made this fantastic cake again I made some changes and the cake came out so moist and brown that it was better than store brought one...I thought I will share with you all some updated pictures. Sabina, a very special blogger friend, did the same way and she had amazing result about which she had commented in the comments section.

I added raisins, little tutti fruti (about 100 gms), and chopped cashewnuts; you can ofcourse add dates, cherries, but only make sure that all the dry fruits do not exceed 500 g.

I added caramelized sugar syrup 1 1/2 cup instead of plain water. Omitted the brown sugar and molasses, just added plain white sugar.

For the spices I added 2 nutmeg along with cinnamon stick, and crushed dry ginger (which I took out after it was boiled and cooled).

This pic was taken just after I added the eggs, baking powder, and flour to the boiled and cooled dry fruits mix. See the difference in color because of caramel sugar syrup. Plus I added 1 or 2 tbsp more water to make it a fluffy creamy consistency.

And the result was just amazing!

I brushed about 1/4 cup of brandy to the cooled cake. If you do not want alcohol you can brush fresh orange juice or wine.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on top...it will cover the cracks and give a more Christmas look to the cake.


Need any more reason for not baking this fruit cake for Christmas???.

Comments

  1. OMG. I was seriously thinking the other day on how to go about this as I do not want to use any alcohol for soaking. Thank you for digging out this and sharing this version with us all. Book marked Nisa.

    By soda powder I believe you mean baking soda.

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  2. This is really helpful for those who forgot to dip dry fruits in liquor. Looks very yummy. You are tempting me with the last pic

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  3. yummmmmmy u better follow what i told u...this looks absolutely delicious

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  4. Moist & a perfect xmas fruit cake!! Wish I could taste some it now ;)
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  5. Cake looks absolutely divine with those fruits..

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  6. Looks so tempting! Merry Christmas to you and your family

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  7. Yumm yumm fruit cake.:-) Nice clicks!

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  8. Radhika-yes, soda powder is baking soda...thanks for the awfully sweet comment...you made my day:)

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  9. Thank you all for the inspiration...it means a lot to me.

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  10. dellllllllicious cake...the click shows how yummy the cake is....i am sure it was very tasty....enjoy the eve...

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  11. wonderful and am short of time seeing your recipe i was happy and wanted to try at once...but got some doubts...
    -can i use mixture of tuti fruti as my daughter loves that.
    -what is sugar molasses exactly?
    -is brown sugar jaggery(vellam) we get in shops?

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  12. Sabina-I think you can try using tuti fruti(its actually raw papaya dried with color). Molasses is sharkara in Malayalm or commonly known as jaggery (vellem). Brown sugar is partially refined sugar that contains molasses and gives out a rich dark brown to this cake. You can get it in shops. Since I was short of it I added 1 tbsp of jaggery to ordinary white sugar. I hope this helps...do let me know how it came out. Merry Christmas.

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  13. Wow!,delicious bake.Softy and songy Dear.Luv it

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  14. Lovely presentation. Looks flavourful and delicious

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  15. Yummy cake and loved the method too. Thx for linking to Sinful Delights.

    Vardhini
    Event: Sinful Delights
    Event: Stuffed Paratha

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  16. i've made this and it'z baking in the oven.i skipped the molasses/brown sugar and added white sugar only-made caramel(for the darker shade) out of 1/4 of the sugar with some of the water.and rest is the same...don't know how it's going to turn out...waiting eagerly to let u know the results..Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New year 2012 for u and ur family..

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  17. Sabina-Thank you for trying out and for the sweet comment ...What a coincidence, I too made one today the same way (caramel water instead of plain water)and it came out just perfect. I will update the pictures later...and this time I brushed some brandy over the cake. Do let me know how it came out...Merry Christmas to u and ur fly too.

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  18. Hi Nisa - glad to see the cake turned out so well for you. I do love the recipe. I see you have 150g butter = 1 1/2 sticks = 1 1/2 cups, it's actually 2/3 cup. Also, I used 250ml water in my recipe, so if you were using a 200ml cup, you were right that you probably want more water. Merry Christmas!

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  19. thingsforboys-oops!thanks for the correction...its 3/4 cup :)....merry christmas to u too.

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  20. Now am back with a big thanku the cake turned out wonderful...itz like the one's we get in shops,just can't believe we could make this so quick(without any prior preparations)..but wondering about the shelf life...i too have brushed it with brandy and the cake is so soft and flavourful..and i tweaked the spice mix-(cardamon-2,cinnamon-a bit,cloves-2,nutmeg-a small bit)powdered all this with some of the sugar.)

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  21. tempting....will surely try

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  22. Hi Nisa,
    You have me drooling over your Fruit Cake, it is just awesome. I can't wait to make this wonderful Cake. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

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  23. thanks so much for linking this lovely cake to Jingle All The Way. Really christmasy!
    -
    Kavi (Edible Entertainment)

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  24. though not a lover of fruit cakes, but this pictures and comments have made me all geared up too try out this recipe :-)

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  25. Sabina-A big thank you for the comment...and YAY! I am glad that the cake turned out great, ya it is better than store brought ones. The best part is you don't need to wait for Christmas or the dry fruits to soak in alcohol to make fruit cake. About shelf life I have yet to find that out...becoz my two batches of cakes did not last more than 2 days..

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  26. Thank you all for the wonderful comments and for the inspiration...Merry Christmas to all!

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  27. wow yumm & delicious..:) thanks dear for linking

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  28. The cake looks so delicious and moist. Will follow your recipe now for this cake!

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  29. You have such a great collection of cake recipes. I just went through a couple and am so inspired to bake (something I don't do that well!!) Will be trying your orange cake to start with.

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  30. Hello, I don't fully understand why the step "boiling" is needed here. What particular qualities does it bring to the cake ?

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    Replies
    1. Mathilda-thank u for stopping by; about your query, the 'boiling" of the dry fruits is to make them tender and soft, so there is no need to soak them in alcohol.

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  31. This is fabulous. i have been baking for yrs using a similar recipe to make one without eggs. loved the way yours turned out with eggs. looks too good.

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  32. Soft and moist cake...will try it sooon...loved this cake.

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  33. Nice and easy step by step instructions, I'm your new follower. You can visit mine when you find time :)

    http://kitchenista-welcometomykitchen.blogspot.com

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  34. Just perfect very nice dear .. i will must try your recipe :)

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