Ingredients
- 3 cups of store bought fruit cake mix
- ½ cup each of prunes and dates chopped
- ½ cup almonds halved
- 2 tablespoons of marmalade
- 1 apple peeled and grated
- 1 cup of brandy
- 100gms butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups of plain flour
- 2 tablespoons of Schococoa
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 100 grams Schoc Dark Chocolate chopped
Method
- Place dried fruits, marmalade, apple and brandy in a saucepan and gently heat until the fruit is soft and plump with brandy. Cool.
- Prepare a 20cm round baking pan by greasing and lining with baking paper and wrap the outside of the pan in two sheets of newspaper. Tie with string to hold tight.
- Preheat oven to 140°C
- In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well
- Fold in sifted flour, cocoa and spices with a spatula then fold in the fruit mix, almonds and chocolate
- Turn into baking pan and cook for 3 hours. Test. It should still be moist but not liquid.
- Cool in the baking pan until cold
- Store in a well-sealed cake tin until Christmas.
You can decorate your Christmas cake with traditional marzipan and fondant icing, or top with glacé cherries and roasted almonds and glaze with a warm solution of marmalade diluted slightly with hot water. It’s a rich, moist cake though and delicious on its own. We decorated ours with pinecones and pine needles then dusted with icing sugar and added a tealight candle.
Peace, love and chocolate