Cranberry Apricot Christmas Fruit Cake
Love fruit cake, not keen on marzipan or fondant? Then why not try this quicker fruit cake that is easy to make & uses dried cranberries and apricots. Can be made ahead and lasts at least 14 days so perfect for the busy festive period. (**print with/without process pics or notes)
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden spoon
- Saucepan
- Hand/stand mixer (optional)
- Baking/parchment paper
- 6" (15¼ cm) Cake Tin (3½" (9cm) deep tin. For different sizes see notes)
- Medium to large sized mixing bowl
- Sieve
- Wooden BBQ stick
- Cooling rack
- Cling Film (plastic wrap)
- Thick ribbon (for decoration, optional)
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 300 grams Dried Cranberries (10½ oz, 2 rounded Cups)
- 188 grams Dried Apricots (6⅔ oz, level 1½ cups)
- 163 grams Light Brown Sugar (5¾ oz, 1¼ cups, *see notes)
- 163 grams Butter, unsalted & cubed (5¾ oz, ¾ cup)
- 200 ml Orange Juice (6¾ fl oz, ⅘ cup, or other pure fruit juice)
- 2 Eggs (Medium to large, or 3 small) (US Large or Extra Large)
- ¾ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp (rounded) Ground Anise (optional)
- ¾ tsp Ginger
- ¾ tsp Mixed spice, optional (Pumpkin Spice alternative)
- 325 grams Plain Flour (11½ oz, 2⅔ cups All Purpose Flour)
- 1½ tbsp Baking Powder
For Decorating
- Nuts - such as almond, walnuts, pecans (optional, see recipe)
- Glaze cherries (optional - alternative candied cherries or maraschino cherries)
Instructions
Cook/Hydrate The Fruit
- Add butter, sugar, spices, orange juice, cranberries and apricots to a saucepan and gently cook on low to medium heat until the sugar & butter has melted. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, till fruits are plum, liquid reduced and syrup formed.
- Remove from the heat, and strain the fruit into a bowl, reserving the syrup liquid. Remove the whole apricots as best you can, if not chopped and roughly chop. Chill the fruit in the fridge for 20 minutes & leave the syrup to the side.
Prepare The Batter
- Pre-heat your oven 170°c/150°c Fan Oven/325°f/Gas Mark 3.
- Add the cooled fruit mixture to a large mixing bowl, half of the syrup, beat in the eggs & sieve over the flour, baking powder & spices. Mix till incorporated and a very thick batter is produced (add small amounts of the remaining syrup but leave few tbsp for glazing).
Prepare Cake Tin
- Well grease the 6" (15¼cm) wide, deep cake tin on the bottom and up the sides, before adding baking/parchment paper. I used Frylight cooking/baking spray. You can also use cake release spray, homemade lining paste/Cake Goop, or butter. Fold a strip of the paper twice to make a triple layer of paper to go around the outsides of the tin, making sure the paper goes about 1" (2½ cm) above the height of the tin. Hold in place with string.
Bake The Cake
- Carefully spoon the cake batter into the prepared cake tin, smooth and level off best you can, before tapping the tin a few times on the counter/worktop and then baking in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes the cake should be set on top and browned, so add a circle of paper to cover & pop back in the oven. Reduce the heat slightly to 160°c/140°c Fan Oven/310°f/Gas Mark 2½ and continue to bake for about another 1 hour 20 minutes (80 minutes). The cake will have baked in about 2 hours, but ready when a wooden bbq stick comes out clean of crumbs or has internal temperature of 90.5 – 96°c (195-205°f).
- Leave to cool as is on a cooling rack or leave overnight. (Note cutting the cake is advised on the day after baking for less crumbly slices).
- Once cooled, remove the paper & tin, before peeling off the paper lining. Leave to cool more on the rack and brush on some of the reserved sugar syrup to the top of the cake to give a nice shine,
Decorating
- When the cake is cooling you can decide on the pattern for your nuts and cherries. (See Photo collage 8 before this Recipe Card). Once happy with the pattern, remove, then apply more syrup before adding the nuts back on.
- Add a ribbon of choice (see examples in photo collage 9) around the cake and your British fruit cake is complete.
Serving & Storing
- Remember best served day after baking and this also allows the flavours to develop. Use a large sharp knife to slice and enjoy with a hot drink.
- Store covered with cling film/plastic wrap and then a cake dome or airtight container such as a cake or cookie tin. The cake will last at least 14 days if stored like this and taste even better as the days pass.
Notes
Sugar - Our British Christmas cakes and fruit cakes, are usually made using brown sugar (light or dark). White sugar can also be used, but the cake will be a paler colour.
Slicing - after baking, leave overnight before slicing or at least 12 hours, to make slicing easier.
Recipe Yield -16 slices approximately. See more on serving section.
Alternative Sizes/shapes of Tins - see my article on How To Reduce A Recipe, or How To Increase A Recipe, with calculations for various sizes of cake tins. British Christmas Cake Recipe.
More sweet & savoury Christmas Bakes
More Cake recipes or Penguin fondant tutorial
Baking ingredient measurement conversion table.
Quicker Christmas Fruit Cake recipe (above)
Nutrition Facts
Cranberry Apricot Christmas Fruit Cake
Serving Size
1 slice
Amount per Serving
Calories
291
% Daily Value*
Fat
5
g
8
%
Monounsaturated Fat
2
g
Cholesterol
45
mg
15
%
Sodium
216
mg
9
%
Potassium
204
mg
6
%
Carbohydrates
48
g
16
%
Fiber
12
g
50
%
Sugar
17
g
19
%
Protein
3
g
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.