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This is undoubtedly my favourite cake! It’s good, easy to make and can take any shape you want. I usually make three or more of them for Christmas: a square one decorated as a gift, a star, a Christmas tree and smaller ones in the shape of trees, stars or snow flakes.You can make it one month ahead, you only have to wrap it up well in aluminum foil and then decorate it the day you need it. The longer you keep it wrapped, the better all the ingredients blend together.
In my family, we love to have the smaller Fruit Cakes at breakfast during the whole Christmas holidays.
I also make some smaller ones with margarine as my daughter is intolerant to lactose and they taste delicious anyway!
250 g butter
250 g sugar
5 eggs
juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 cl rhum or vermouth
250 g flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamom
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
150 g cherry candies
400 g raisins
100 g. finely cut candied oranges
100 g. finely cut candied cedar
100 g chocolate chips
(if you don’t like candied fruit you can put more chocolate)
Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with electrtic mixer until creamy, and white. Add eggs one at a time and don’t forget some flour after each addition. Beat in rest of flour cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, cherry candies, candied oranges and cedar and chocolate chips.
Pour mixture into lightly greased mould. Bake at 180° for 1 hour or more depending on the size of mould.
Decoration
You can decorate the cake as you like or simply leave it without any decoration, as it looks nice too. It all depends the day you’re making it for.
For Xmas Day I like it all white (glacé or royal icing- at your choice) or all black (ganache).
Glacé icing
320 g icing sugar
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons hot water, approximately
Sift icing sugar into small heatproof bowl, Stir in butter and enough of the hot water to make it a thick paste. Place bowl over small saucepan of simmering water. Stir until icing is spreadable
Royal icing
240 g icing sugar
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Lightly beat egg white in small bowl with electric mixe, add icing sugar a tablespoon at a time. When icing reaches frim peaks, beat inn juice.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
200 g dark chocolate, chopped coarsely
125 ml cream
Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat. When bubbles subside, add chocolate. Stir until smooth.
also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2012/12/cake-seventeen.html
also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2012/12/cake-seventeen.html
