This fruit cake recipe is easy to make. It is an alcohol free fruit cake recipe so fruit juice as an alcohol substitute is used. I was quite thrilled when I noticed that most supermarkets now do mixed fruit packets with all the fruit needed for a fruit cake, some of it even comes pre-soaked so there is no need to wait at least 24 hours before the baking process starts. Mixed fruit can vary depending on where you buy it, some has glace cherries and some does not but the basics of the fruit mixture are the same.

If you like glace cherries in yours you can buy them separately and chop some up and add them to your recipe. I have not added any nuts to this recipe but if you like nuts in yours you can add them at the stage where you add the fruit and flour.   From my observation it seems almonds are the nut of choice in fruit cakes but I guess you can use any nuts you like.

You can learn how to cover fruit cake with marzipan by watching a video tutorial which I made.

Ingredients

• 800 grams mixed fruit (soak them the night before in 250ml of the fruit juice of your choice, I use apple juice)
• 200 grams unsalted butter
• 200 grams light or dark muscovado sugar
• 200 grams plain flour
• 1 tablespoon treacle
• 4 medium eggs
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of one orange
• zest of one lemon

Method

• Grease and line, with baking paper, a 20cm round cake tin with high sides.
• Pre heat the oven to 130 Celsius
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together
• Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition
• Add the treacle, the zests and vanilla extract and mix
• Add the flour and and dried fruit and mix well
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the top with a knife
• Bake in the oven for about 4 hours and 15 minutes
• After 3 hours 15 minutes of baking, cover the cake with foil on top and let it bake until the time required has passed. Covering it in foil stops it from burning the top but still allows the cake to cook through
• Test with a cake tester and if it comes out clean it is ready.
• Leave it to cool completely before decorating.