If you're after an easy Christmas cake recipe, you can't beat this one. We've actually used three different types of sugar to boost the flavour profile of this cake, along with some quirky flavours including sour cherry and ginger. For a boozy hit, it's got to be Armagnac.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
30 - 35 serving(s)
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
3 hrs 30 mins
Total Time:
4 hrs
Cal/Serv:
251
Ingredients
500g
(1lb 2oz) each sultanas and raisins
250g
(9oz) Agen prunes, roughly chopped
100g
bag dried sour cherries
150ml
(¼ pint) Armagnac, plus extra to drizzle
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon and 1 orange
100g
(3½oz) molasses sugar
150g
(5oz) dark brown sugar
250g
pack unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
4
large eggs, beaten
250g
(9oz) plain flour
1Tbsp.
black treacle
1½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ginger
Directions
Step 1
Put the fruit into a non-metallic bowl with the Armagnac, citrus zest and juices. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) cake tin with greaseproof paper. Put the sugar and butter into a large bowl and, using an electric hand whisk, beat until light and fluffy.
Step 3
Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, taking care the mixture doesn't curdle. If it looks as if it might, add a little of the flour. Beat in the black treacle.
Step 4
Sift the flour, spices and a pinch of salt into the mixture, then fold in gently with a large metal spoon. Next, fold in the soaked fruit. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
Step 5
Wrap a double layer of brown paper around the outer edge of the tin - this helps prevent the cake from burning. Bake for 3-3½hr until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10min, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. Keep the cake in the greaseproof paper, wrap it in clingfilm, then in foil. Store in an airtight container in a cool place.
Step 6
After two weeks of maturing, prick the cake with a metal skewer and drizzle over 1tbsp Armagnac. Leave to soak in, then rewrap and store as before. The cake will keep for up to three months.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
