Brandy Soaked Christmas Fruit Cake

I made this cake just in time for the Christmas season! It is one cake that my family will insist on having for Christmas. The spices and richness that comes from the brown sugar just reminds us of the season. 

Every year, around August, I will buy dried fruits like currants, raisins, cherries and sultanas as well as candied peels of orange and lemon and soaked them in either brandy, whiskey or rum. I will place the mixture in a cool place, like the wine fridge, for 3 months and open it in December to use it to bake this cake.

Christmas Fruit Cake 
(make 2 loaves of 20cm x 10 cm cake)

Homemade Mincemeat
225g dried raisins
225g dried currants
225g dried cherries
225g dried sultanas
225g mixed candied peels
4 level tsp mixed ground spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Brandy, Rum or Whiskey to cover the fruits

Steps to prepare:

• Place the dried fruits and candied peels into a sterile glass bottle and pour in your choice of alcohol to soak.
• Place bottle in a cool place.
• When ready to use, drain the mixture from the liquid but keep the liquid to drench the cake after it is baked.

Fruit Cake
250g dark brown sugar
250g butter, at room temperature
300g unbleached organic flour (any all purpose flour will work too)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
410g of the mincemeat mixture above


Steps to bake:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. 
• Grease and line two 20cm x 10cm loaf pan.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Mix in 1 egg at a time until combine
• Mix in flour until incorporated, do not over mix.
• Fold in the mincemeat mixture.
• Pour the batter evenly between the 2 loaf pan. 
• Bake for 2 hours or until skewers comes out clean from the center of the cake.
• Once baked, place the pan on cooling rack for 15 min.
• After 15 min, remove cake from pan and let cool for 1 hour on cooling rack.
• Every 2 days, you can douse the cakes each with 1 tablespoon of the brandy, rum or whiskey for 1 - 2 weeks and keep it wrapped up tightly until ready to eat. This cake freezes very well too, wrap it tightly with one layer of baking paper and follow by a layer of aluminum foil.

Slice the cake into 1 cm slices and enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee or even with an aperitif, as a dessert.  

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