Mary Berry's rich fruit Christmas cake (2024)

FAQs

How long should you soak fruit for Christmas cake? ›

Most recipes call for dried fruit to be soaked overnight. I take a speedy approach: just microwave the dried fruit with juice and/or brandy, then stand for 1 hour to soak up the liquid. So much faster – and just as effective! Other than that, there's nothing unusual about how this fruit cake is made.

The flour is standard, I use self raising instead of plain flour and baking powder, and some ground almonds. If you don't want to use nuts, you can use more flour instead of the ground almonds. Also, mix through the eggs… I use 5 medium, but four large eggs will also work super well.

The light flour coating helps the fruit to 'stick' to the cake mixture better, stopping them from sinking. If you are using fruit such as glace cherries or larger fruits such as apple, you will need to halve or quarter them before dusting with flour, as if left whole they will be too large and will sink.

Let me start by saying that fruit cake is notorious for drying out so even if you've gone through several trial and errors, don't beat yourself up if you still have a way to go. One of the most common reasons that a fruit cake will dry out is because it has been overcooked.

When a cake is wet in the middle it is because the edges have cooked faster than the centre. This happens because of the way the cake cooks naturally in the tin – the sides of the cake tin heat up first.

Test with a temperature probe to ensure the cake has baked to a temperature between 92 and 94 degrees celsius. Remove from the cooker, leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before removing and storing in a tin, wrapped in further paper or foil until Christmas.

Other good choices of booze include brandy, rum, or whiskey. Feel free to use one or a mix of these to best complement your fruitcake. Once you've chosen the liquor, bake the cake, poke holes throughout the whole thing, and pour a few tablespoons of the alcohol over it. Or, you can brush the cake with the alcohol.

A dry cake is usually the result of one of the following pitfalls: using the wrong ingredients, making mistakes while measuring or mixing the batter, or baking the cake too long or at too high a temperature. Once you understand which common cake-baking blunders to avoid, you'll know how to bake a moist cake every time.

You can't rebake a cake to fix it, but you might be able to save your cake if it's still in the oven. If you look through the oven window and the middle of the cake is sinking, give it some extra time before opening the door or removing the cake.

Q: Why do cakes crack when baking? A: Oven too hot or cake placed too high in oven; the crust is formed too soon, the cake continues to rise, therefore the crust cracks.

How do you keep fruit cake moist? ›

Wrap each cake in several layers of cheesecloth and then in plastic wrap. Store the cakes in airtight containers in a cool dry place, but not in the refrigerator or freezer. Check carefully at least once a week, as rich, moist cakes mould very easily. If you see any mould, throw out the cake.

When you insert a thin skewer in the cake, it should come out clean (or with a few dry crumbs). If you pull it out and wet cake mixture has stuck to the skewer, it means the cake has not finished baking completely.

put it back in the oven for 12 or so minutes, at a slightly lower temperature. if the top is getting brown, cover the cake with foil before you put it back in the oven. take it out, check it with a skewer, if it comes out clean, its done, if not, put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

This can happen for a variety of reasons ranging from type of flour, not enough eggs/wrong size eggs, not enough liquid or fats and even storage. 'Causes of crumbly fruit cake'.