This is a Christmas cake recipe for people in a hurry! No creaming butter and sugar required - everything is melted and mixed in one pot. The condensed milk replaces eggs to make the cake beautifully moist.
Ingredients
- 225 g butter cubed
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tbsp DYC malt vinegar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 300 g FreshLife raisins roughly chopped
- 300 g FreshLife Australian sultanas roughly chopped
- 300 g currants
- 100 g mixed citrus peel roughly chopped
- 1 tin 395g sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup orange juice or brandy, rum, whisky
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300 g self-raising flour sifted
Decoration and finishing
- FreshLife natural almonds to decorate
- red and green glace cherries to decorate
- brandy rum or whisky, to feed the cake*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line the base and sides of a deep-sided 20 cm round cake tin with two layers of non-stick baking paper.
- Place butter, hot water, vinegar, cinnamon, mixed spice and dried fruit into a large saucepan and bring just to the boil, stirring regularly until butter melts.
- Remove from the heat and stir in condensed milk and baking soda. The mixture will foam. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Mix in orange juice and vanilla, then add the flour and combine well. Spread mixture into the prepared cake tin. Arrange almonds and cherries on top, pressing them in lightly.
- Bake for 2 hours 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Place on a rack and cover with a tea towel. Cool completely before removing from the cake tin.
Notes
To store the fruitcake, wrap tightly in a double layer of greaseproof paper and store in a cool place. You can ‘feed’ the cake with a little brandy/whisky/rum every 5-6 days to make it develop a gorgeous festive flavour. Each time, simply unwrap the cake, then poke the cake all over with a clean, thin skewer and drizzle with liquor. Rewrap tightly and place back in a cool place.