Easy Christmas Cake
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP GROUP
THEME: CHRISTMAS
RECIPE: EASY CHRISTMAS CAKE
Easy Christmas Cake is a fruity, nutty and spicy cake, just as a Christmas Cake should be. However, for this recipe you don’t need to soak the dried fruits for months or at all. This makes the cake much less denser than Christmas Cakes with soaked fruits.
I’M SO EXCITED
This Christmas I’m celebrating it in the Exotic Tropical Island of Bali… yes the Bali where Julia Roberts finds inner peace and balance of love in the movie Eat, Pray and Love. Spending this holiday season with my eldest son, his wife and her parents.
The last time we spent Christmas with my daughter in law and her parents was in Dubai. Family time together is fun and makes any festival more meaningful. My family is spread all over the world and for us to get together as one becomes very difficult because of jobs and number of days they can take off. For quite a while we were planning that the whole family gets together in Bali for Christmas. However, that has not been possible, my other son, my daughter and son in law cannot make it to Bali. On the other side, my daughter in law’s brother can’t make it. However, there is always hope that one day we will be able to take a holiday together. However, as I am writing this post, I am excited to visit a new place and really looking forward to spending 2 whole weeks with the rest of the family.
FOODIEMONDAY/ BLOGHOP THEME
The Theme, CHRISTMAS has come at the right time. Last week before traveling I baked an Easy Christmas Cake and some Cookies. So for this post was contemplating whether I should post the cake first or the cookies. The cake won and the cookies will be posted a bit later.
SOME CHRISTMAS BAKES
- Egg free Wheat Christmas Cake
- Kerstkransjes – Dutch Christmas Cookies
- Spicy Christmas Muffins
- Christmas Tea Bread – made with strong black tea
- Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- Achu Murukku/Rose Cookies
- Rose and Cardamom Cookies
- Pistachio Cranberry Cookies
- Wheat Orange and Oat Cookies
- Gingerbread and Oatmeal Bread
- Mini Pannettone
- Date Bread
- Dark Chocolate Orange Shortbread
- Cardamom Chocolate Fudge
- Coconut Chocolate
EASY CHRISTMAS CAKE
I meant to make a proper Christmas Cake but I didn’t soak the fruits in time… so perhaps next year! However, there are Christmas Cakes that are made without soaking the fruit. That’s why the recipe I’m about to share is so easy and fuss free. The types of dried fruits you use is up to you. I used what my daughter had in her pantry. Actually, I was so tempted to buy the dried kiwi, strawberries, pineapple, etc but had to really control myself. It was important to clear her pantry as come Feb she is moving to Dubai.
Ingredients Required For Easy Christmas Cake
- Plain Flour – all purpose flour. For the batter and dusting.
- Brown sugar – can use white if your prefer
- Salted Butter – soft but not melted. For the batter and to grease the baking pan.
- Eggs – large. Must be at room temperature
- Baking Powder – as leavening agent
- Ginger Powder – for the spice mixture
- Cinnamon Powder – for the spice mixture.
- Cardamom Powder – for the spice mixture
- Nutmeg Powder – for the spice mixture
- Clove Powder – for the spice mixture
- Mixed Dried Fruits – can use raisins, cranberries, cherries, sultana, tutti frutti, pineapple, blueberries, figs, apricot, strawberries, kiwi, etc . Chop the bigger fruits into smaller pieces.
- Mixed Nuts – any of your choice. Walnuts, cashew nuts, pistachio, almonds, hazelnuts, etc.
- Fresh Orange Juice – best to use freshly squeezed
- Orange Zest or Rind – grated
- Brandy, Rum or any alcohol of your choice (optional) – can replace it with water or orange juice
EASY CHRISTMAS CAKE
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups plain flour all purpose flour
- 1¼ cup brown sugar
- 220 g butter salted
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- ½ tsp nutmeg powder
- ¼ tsp clove powder
- 2 cups mixed dried fruits
- 1 cup chopped mixed nuts
- ¼ - ⅓ cup fresh orange juice
- zest from one orange
- 2 tbsp brandy/rum/or any alcohol of your choice optional
- extra flour for dusting
- extra butter for greasing
Instructions
- Prepare the baking tin. For one cake you can use a 9" round tin. I used a 6" round tin and a small loaf tin. Grease the tin lightly with butter. Add about a tsp or so of flour and shake the tin to spread the flour around. Dust the sides too. Tap the tin gently over the sink to remove excess flour. Or line it with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Sieve the flour, spices and baking powder together.
- Mix the nuts and dried fruits together. Add 1 tbsp flour to it and mix it. By doing this the fruit and nuts will not sink to the bottom of the cake while baking.
- Cream butter and sugar together till it is nice and fluffy. The color too will become a bit lighter.
- Add the zest and one egg.
- Whisk till the egg is mixed into the sugar butter mixture.
- Add a tablespoon of flour and mix.
- Add the second egg and whisk.
- Add a tablespoon of flour and mix.
- Add the third egg and whisk.
- Add the juice and alcohol. Whisk.
- Add remaining flour and fold well.
- Add the nuts and fruit mixture and fold it in gently.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared tin.
- Baking time will vary according to the size of the tin. 9" one will take 55-60 minutes. My 6" one took 45-50 minutes and the small loaf one took 35 minutes.
- The top should be nice golden brown color and when you insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake it should come out clean if the cake is done.
- Remove the tin from the oven. Let the cake rest in the tin for 5 minutes.
- Then remove it carefully and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
- Christmas cake is ready to be enjoyed with friends and family.
Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Use lemon zest instead of orange zest.
- Replace the alcohol with juice or water.
- Use any dried fruit of your choice.
- Use any nuts of your choice.
Pin For Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
10 Comments
Poonam Bachhav
December 25, 2017 at 4:13 am
Happy Holidays di…the cake looks yumm !
thegalnxtdoor
December 26, 2017 at 5:14 pm
The cake looks so good! 🙂
Mallika Bhandary
December 28, 2017 at 1:46 pm
Lovely and perfect for the holiday season! Yum!
krispykadhai
January 3, 2018 at 9:29 am
what a beautiful cake mayuri di.. awesome share 🙂
krispykadhai
January 3, 2018 at 9:30 am
what a beautiful cake mayuri di.. awesome share 🙂
Aruna
January 4, 2018 at 7:51 am
Such a simple recipe and such a delightful result!
Preethi Prasad
January 7, 2018 at 6:11 am
Awesome!! Cake looks inviting.Perfect for this festive season.
firsttimercook
February 17, 2018 at 10:26 am
So divine and perfect for Christmas !!
Neha
December 20, 2021 at 8:53 am
This Christmas Cake looks so easy and inviting. In my case , many a times I too make such fruit cakes without soaking or just soaking the nuts and fruits overnight. Nonetheless, they always turn out delectable. Enjoy your holidays with your family and relatives. Christmas cake is so wonderfully appealing in the cool winters. Lovely post!
mayurisjikoni
December 28, 2021 at 5:41 pm
Thank you so much Neha. You’re so right fruit cakes are so appealing during the cold weather.