Mary Berry's classic fruit cake
Become a baking legend like Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry with the ultimate Christmas cake recipe. This is a wonderful, rich traditional fruit cake and can be made up to three months in advance. Allow plenty of time to ‘feed’ the cake with brandy and let it mature.
Mary Berry's Classic Fruit Cake
Preparation Time: 30 minutes plus overnight soaking, plus time to marzipan and ice the cake.
Cooking Time: 4 ¾ hours
Serves: 18 – 20
Ingredients
350g/12oz currants
225g/8oz sultanas
225g/8oz raisins
175g/6oz glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and quartered
175g/6oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, snipped into pieces
75g/3oz mixed candied peel, finely chopped
4 tbsp brandy, plus extra for 'feeding' the cake
275g/10oz plain flour
½ tsp grated nutmeg
¾ tsp ground mixed spice
400g/14oz butter, softened
400g/14oz dark muscovado sugar
5 free-range eggs
65g/2½oz whole almonds, chopped (skins left on)
1 tbsp black treacle
1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
1 orange, finely grated zest only
To finish
50 whole blanched almonds
10 glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and halved
Instructions
- Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries, apricots and mixed peel in a large bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place overnight.
- Lightly grease a 23cm/9in deep round cake tin. Cut a strip of baking parchment to fit twice around the sides of the tin, fold the bottom edge of the strip up by about 2.5cm/1in, creasing it firmly, then open out the fold and cut slanting lines into this narrow strip at intervals. Put a circle of baking parchment into the base of the tin, lightly grease the outer edge and then fit the prepared strip of parchment with the snipped edge in the base of the tin to line the sides of the tin. Place a second circle of baking parchment in to cover the cut part of the paper.
- Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
- Put the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, almonds, treacle and citrus zest in a large bowl and beat well. Fold in the soaked fruits.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Decorate the top with the whole blanched almonds and glacé cherries, pushing them lightly into the top of the cake mixture. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of greaseproof paper. Bake for 4¼–4¾ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
- When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and 'feed' with a little splash of brandy. Once the cake is completely cold, leave the lining paper on the cake, wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months, feeding at intervals with more brandy.
Recipe Tips
You need to start preparing this cake the night before you want to bake it as the dried fruits need to be soaked in brandy so that they become plump. You can vary the fruit if you like, but make the total weight the same as in the recipe.