Deck the halls with Holly. Fa la la la la. Christmas is a mere 1 day away and I can tell that everyone is slowly going on their long leaves till next year! Raffles Place is very much a deserted town. It’s great that people are taking the time off to spend with their families and friends and to conclude 2015 on a joyful note.
Not a fan of booze but I know that is it always present at parties. It’s something like what’s a party without pizza and coke kinda thing. Whenever I put in a little booze into my desserts, people get all excited. I can kind of understand that feeling because booze in desserts really works! I hate alcohol but I love desserts with it. It’s something I can’t explain to you. You will have to try it for yourself.
Fruitcake- Not a cake with fruits and cream but the traditional Christmas fruitcake with candied fruits and nuts. This recipe has been adapted from joyofbaking and I’m sure you will like it!
Ingredients for cake ( Serves abt 16pax):
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
210g firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier / brandy/ sherry/ rum, etc.) Extra for brushing the cake
Zest and juice of 1 orange
100g almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1kg of an assortment of candied fruit (mixed peel and/or cherries), all chopped into bite sized pieces
260g all-purpose flour
75g finely ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
2g salt
Steps for cake
1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
2) Butter an 8inch spring form pan with a removable bottom and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. ( or if you’re feeling like Santa this Christmas, you could bake them in mini loaves like I did. Baking time would be shorten in this case. Do check with a skewer after 45mins).
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, salt, and baking powder.
4) In another large bowl place the dried and candied fruits, along with the chopped nuts. Remove about 3-4 tablespoons of the flour mixture and add it to this mixture, tossing well to coat all the fruits and nuts.
5) Using a mixer, beat the butter until creamy.
6) Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
7) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8) Add the alcohol, orange juice, orange zest. Fold in the chopped nuts and all the dried and candied fruits.
9) Fold in the flour mixture.
10) Scrape the batter into the pan and, if desired, decorate the top of the cake with blanched almonds.
11) Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hour.
12) Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and continue to bake the cake for about 80-90 minutes or until a long skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
13) Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Then, with a skewer, poke holes in the top surface of the cake and liberally brush with alcohol.
14) Wrap the cake thoroughly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in a cake tin or plastic bag. Store in a cool dry place.
15) Brush the cake periodically (once or twice a week for about two to three weeks) with alcohol. This cake will keep several weeks or it can be frozen.
[[Do comment in the post below or tag me on Instagram: @sherbakes if you attempt your very own. Would love to share your joy in baking adventures]]