My first Christmas cognac fruit cake

Macerated my own dried fruits mix for about 24hours.

 

 

I am a huge fan of the traditional moist and dense fruit cake, yet I haven't made any before. Recently, I ate a good one but it cost quite a bit. So I decided to make my own, and realized the reason why a good one would cost due to the amount of dried fruits and nuts and the ingredients used (especially the liquor).

 

When I mixed the batter and while baking, I wasn't sure if I was doing it right, cos the cake looks really moist. I kept checking the original recipe, wondering why the ratio of flour: fruits are about 1:7!? But nothing was wrong. This turned out to be a great recipe!!

 

Here's the recipe that I adapted from daily delicious, but I have 1/4th the recipe, should have just halved, cos my baking loaf pan is bigger than the one used in original recipe, that's why my fruit cake appear short. But it still taste good! It was recommended that I should wait for at least two days, but I couldn't, I had it about 2hrs right after it was baked :p.

 

*My macerated dried fruit mix was made from

1/2 cup blackcurrant, organic

1/2 cup green raisin, organic

1/4 cup cranberries, organic, chopped

1/4 cup apricot, organic, chopped

1/4 cup honey (may want to cut this if you prefer it less sweet)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup of cognac

 

Macerated for about 24hours in a ceramic dish at room temperature.  (Recommended to macerate for longer duration)

 

350g macerated dried fruit mix
70g raw cashew nuts and walnuts mix, organic, chopped
1.5 eggs
1/2 tbsp. honey
1tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
70g butter
2tbsp molasses sugar, organic
1/4 tsp lemon zest
65g cake flour
9g almond powder
50ml cognac (I didn't do this, cos I didn't want my cake to be too strong)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 165deg C (I used my toaster oven).
2. Grease loaf pan with butter.
3. Sift flour and almond powder.
4. Beat butter till soft. Add in sugar, honey and salt.
5. Add in beaten egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract.
6. Mix in 1/2 of the flour mix.
7. Mix in the rest with fruits and chopped nuts.
8. Bake for about 30min at 165deg C.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #38: Boozy-licious (December 2013) hosted by Jasline of Foodie Baker.

 

Also submitting this post to Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipe Collection 2013 event, hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out.