Christmas Fruitcake

Name: Christmas Fruitcake
Ingredients: 130 g prunes; 130 g Django raisins; 130 g Isabella raisins; 130 g butter; 90 g brown sugar; 50 g honey; 50 g cognac (or other alcohol of your choice); zest and juice of 1 orange; 0.3 tsp cinnamon; 0.25 tsp ginger; 0.25 tsp nutmeg; 100 g flour; 50 g almond flour; 2 eggs; 1 tbsp cocoa (heaping); 0.5 tsp baking powder; pinch of salt

The holidays are just around the corner, so it's time to start getting ready. Many of you are already familiar with the Dundee Christmas Cake — it's absolutely delicious, but the downside is that it needs to be made well in advance and left to mature. If you forgot or ran out of time, today's recipe is for you. This cake doesn't need any resting time at all — you can bake it the day before Christmas and it will be perfect. It's incredibly moist, juicy, and fragrant, and comes out just right from the very first bake! Dark molasses is often used in this type of Christmas baking, but since you probably don't have any on hand, we'll use honey and brown sugar instead. We'll add orange juice and zest, along with fragrant alcohol and a touch of spice. To make the cake truly dark — a deep, rich, proper Christmas cake dark — I also added cocoa, and for the same reason I used only dark dried fruits: two kinds of dark raisins and prunes. Of course, feel free to use any other dried fruits you like.

Ingredients:

Dried fruit mixture:
130 g prunes
130 g Django raisins
130 g Isabella raisins
130 g butter
90 g brown sugar
50 g honey
50 g cognac (or other alcohol of your choice)
zest and juice of 1 orange
0.3 tsp cinnamon
0.25 tsp ginger
0.25 tsp nutmeg
Remaining ingredients:
100 g flour
50 g almond flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp cocoa (heaping)
0.5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

How to cook christmas fruitcake with dried fruit

Cut the prunes into small pieces, roughly the size of a raisin. Place all the dried fruit in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Add all the remaining ingredients from the first list.

Place over heat, bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring gently a few times. Let cool until just slightly warm. This pre-cooking step allows the dried fruit to absorb all the flavors quickly, so no advance soaking is needed. And if you're worried about the alcohol because you'll be serving the cake to kids — don't be! There isn't much to begin with, and after simmering and then baking, any alcohol will have completely evaporated. Only the wonderful aroma will remain.

Transfer to a bowl. Most of the liquid will be absorbed, but if any remains, don't drain it — use every last drop in the cake.

Add the eggs to the warm mixture and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, almond flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add to the fruit mixture and stir vigorously until combined.