Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
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Ingredients
75ml dark or golden rum, plus (optional)
150g raisins
250g pack island fruit mix
35g dried mango, chopped35g dried mango, chopped
150g (red) glace cherries, quartered
6 pieces stem ginger in syrup, diced, plus 2 tbsp of the syrup
zest and juice of 1 lime
zest and juice of 1 orange
¼ of a whole nutmeg, grated
1 tbsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground ginger
200g soft unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
200g light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp black treacle
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
4 tbsp dark or golden rum for feeding during storage
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The cake will keep, well-wrapped and in an airtight container, for up to 3 months.
The night before baking, put 75ml rum in a bowl with all the dried fruits, diced ginger and its syrup, citrus zest and juice, and the spices. Stir together well, cover and leave overnight to plump up and absorb all the flavours.
Tip
If you want to avoid alcohol in your cake you can replace the rum with pineapple juice for soaking the fruit mixture (but don’t feed the cake with pineapple juice!)
Next day, grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm springform tin with a double layer of baking paper. Preheat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas 2.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with an electric whisk, beating for at least 2-3 minutes until really pale, then add the treacle. Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a separate bowl. Add 1 egg at a time to the mixer, plus a spoonful of the flour mixture, making sure each egg is mixed in well before you add the next.
Fold in the rest of the flour using a large metal spoon. Tip in the soaked fruits and any liquid remaining in the bowl, and fold through until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared tin, level the surface and cover the cake tin with a double layer of baking paper, with a small hole cut into the centre. Bake for 2 ½-3 hours, or until the cake is firm, golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the tin, then unmould and remove the lining papers once completely cold. Wrap in fresh paper and foil before storing in an airtight container. The cake is lovely and moist, but if you wish you can feed the cake with a tablespoon of rum every week or so. Don’t overdo the feeding process though, or the cake will disintegrate into a mess of boozy crumbs! Finish feeding the cake at least a week before you plan to ice it, so that the surface of the cake isn’t damp.
Tip
Make it gluten-free: substitute gluten-free plain flour, adding 1 teaspoon xanthan gum at the same time.
What alcohol should you use? Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.
Soak all your dried fruits in your spirit of choice – whisky or brandy would be the most traditional options, though other aged spirits like rum also work, and sweeter additions like sherry, Cointreau or amaretto will add their own character.
Whoever finds the fava bean in their slice is considered to have good luck for the coming year. Additionally, a small trinket or figurine is sometimes hidden in the cake, and the person who finds it is said to be the "king" or "queen" of the celebration.
Wrapping the tin in brown paper helps slow the baking of the cake to a more steady temperature, avoiding the outside of the cake being overdone (or worse, burnt) while the inside is still raw.
Fruitcake is often soaked with rum, sherry or brandy. So more of the same could work. My grandmother would make a cup of hot tea and add a spoonful of sugar and a splash of brandy. Then serve that with a thin slice of fruitcake.
Cover all the fruits with the alcohol, seal the jar with an airtight lid, store them in a dark place and allow them to soak for the two weeks so that they absorb the alcohol. During this period, give the fruits and alcohol a good stir or mix, every alternate day.
What is the best alcohol to put in a Christmas cake? A reasonably strong spirit (such as whisky, rum or brandy) with a warm, fiery flavour or a sweet liqueur (such as cherry brandy or amaretto – NOT a cream liqueur) will compliment the flavour of the cake, and help to preserve the cake, so it will keep for longer.
It is 'well fed' with sherry. Most people use brandy. I think this tastes better. This cake does NOT need to mature for weeks to taste gorgeous - 6 days from start to finish is as much time as you need.
25 rolls around — a fact that gave birth to an unfortunate bit of old Japanese slang: "Christmas cake" was used to refer to an unmarried woman who was over 25 and thus, considered past her prime.
Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.
Wrap in greaseproof paper or foil and keep in an airtight container. Ideally, the cake should sit for at least a month to mature, but 2 or 3 weeks is also fine. Whilst it sits, you need to feed it with a sprinkle of 2 or 3 tablespoons of brandy, turning the cake each time it is fed.
Q: Why do cakes crack when baking? A: Oven too hot or cake placed too high in oven; the crust is formed too soon, the cake continues to rise, therefore the crust cracks.
What equipment is needed to store a cake. Firstly, you'll need to place the cake on a cake board. Then wrap the cake in a double layer of baking paper and then in a double layer of foil. Secure the layers with an elastic band and put the wrapped cake in an airtight container.
If you notice your cake is going dark in the oven too early on and you're worried about it burning on the top, cover it with some foil or baking parchment.
Put your dried fruit in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes, and then strain the fruit and discard the water. The fruit will be plumper, juicier, and softer. To give your fruit some extra flavor, swap the water for fruit juice or a liquor, like rum, bourbon, or brandy.
Allow cakes to cool in pans on racks. When cooled, remove cakes from pans and remove parchment paper. Brush cakes generously with sweet sherry, brandy, rum, port, liqueur or fruit juice; do not use wine.
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Prep time: 45 mins 
