My fruit cake is a bit of a dud ..... so disappointed!



Either you are a fruit cake lover or your aren't! I am a fruit cake lover, they are tasty and wholesome. Being A Can Do person I set myself a goal a number of years ago to perfect the art of fruit cake making. It was a bit of a trial and error process learning that fruit cake mixtures do not like a lot of storing and cooking in a slow oven is a must. I learned that marinating the fruit for a week or two make the best Christmas cakes. You could describe me as dedicated.

I have cooked boiled fruit cakes, sultana cakes and the authentic fruit cakes. Some recipes ask for the buyer to be melted and others direct you to gently beat the butter and sugar adding the eggs one at a time. I know them all. I have strived to bake fruit cakes that are not crumby when cut.

I can boast that I have succeeded many times in cooking the most perfect fruit cake. But a few days ago, I cooked a bit of a dud. Not quite sure where it went all horribly wrong, maybe the mixture was too moist going into the cake tin or maybe I should have cooked it longer. My cake is a little crumbly, darn!

Here is the recipe I used just in case you might be interested or inspired.

Here is my recipe:
1 kg of mixed fruit marinated in sherry for a week.
1 cup chopped glace cherries
250 grams of soften butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar (optional because mixed fruit is sweet)
4 eggs
2 cups plain flour
teaspoon mixed spice

Process
Beat the butter and sugar until mixed, add the eggs one at a time and then add to the cherries and fruit mixture. Stir in the flour and the mixed spice. Pour into a prepared paper lined cake tin and cook in a slow oven for 2 hours.

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Working out whether the cake has been cooked enough is the challenge. I am getting better at this but there is a fine line to have a perfectly cooked cake and one that is a little dry.

Maybe one day I might win a Country Woman's Association fruit cake prize. Maybe that is pie in the sky kind of thinking.

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Cheers

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