chocolate fruitcakewe are not big fans of the traditional fruitcake.. maybe i should say we are not big fans of fruitcake..  but since it is christmas, it is something we cannot miss in the house….. and so, it is chocolate fruitcake.. i’d been baking this recipe for a couple of years and really love it (after some minor alterations to lessen the sweetness) (* ˘⌣˘)◞[_]♥[_]ヽ(•‿• )

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients (makes a 20cm round or 18cm square pan)

200g butter
200g dark brown soft sugar
100g dark chocolate, broken into chunks (we used 80%)
75ml brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g raisins
250g currants
100g dried cranberries
100g dried sour cherries
100g mixed peel
200g self raising flour
100g ground almonds
3 tbsp cocoa
3 eggs, beaten with a fork

Directions

chocolate fruitcake– Put the butter, sugar, chocolate, brandy, vanilla and dried fruits into a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat
– Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep cake tin, 20cm round or 18cm square, with a double layer of baking parchment. Wrap a few layers of newspaper around the outside and secure with string
– Mix the flour, almonds, cocoa and spice together. Stir the eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture in the saucepan, followed by the flour mixture. Scrape into your prepared tin and bake for 1½ hrs- 1 hr 45 mins or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then decorate (see ‘Goes well with’, right, for decoration ideas). Greaseproof-wrapped cake will keep for 2 months in an airtight container

Personal notes:

chocolate fruitcake– i used 150g coconut sugar; 88% dark chocolate; 100g mixed fruits; 50g dried cranberries; 50g mixed peels; 50g currants; 50g raisins and omitted the dried sour cherries. we did not want a cake that is overwhelmed with fruits as it becomes too sweet (per my previous years feedback from asian friends)
– my cake was baked in 1 hr 15 mins
– my cake is dusted with icing sugar, and topped with frosted grapes and strawberries. to prepare frosted grapes, make sure you freeze the grapes at least 3 hours ahead of preparation
– when guests are arriving, whisk 2 egg whites with 5 drops of fresh lemon juice till frothy. please ensure your eggs are fresh
– remove grapes from freezer, and place them into the egg white mixture and sieve through a strainer to remove excess egg white. place them on kitchen towel to dry and ensure grape has absorbed the egg white. you need to be fast with this, otherwise, the kitchen towel will stick onto the frozen fruit
– place grapes into a bowl of granulated sugar and ensure they are coated well
– serve on cake immediately

chocolate fruitcakeand someone’s picking this up immediately…. so apologies, no cross-section pics (。・・。)

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

aspiringbakers-1

Pollution index: 57 (good)

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