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–+ servings

Mini Christmas cake

Have you ever wanted to make a traditional Christmas cake but didn't have the time? Then read on, as this recipe is a modern, child friendly Christmas cake
This recipe is great for you, as it is small and quick to make. It uses a long and slow bake to make a delicious moist fruitcake.
It is nut free and alcohol free, but big on on flavour.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Soaking 8 hours
Total Time 10 hours
Course Dessert, Party
Cuisine British
Servings 8
Calories 295 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 x 5" or 12.7 cm cake tin
  • Baking paper cut to fit your cake tin.
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Electric hand held mixer
  • Medium Bowl
  • Clingfilm
  • Box grater
  • Metal spoon
  • Baking Tray

Ingredients
  

  • 42 g unsalted butter -you can substitute for margarine, avoid the low fat ones as they are not good for baking.
  • 42 g soft brown sugar -gula merah
  • 42 g plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 126 g mixed fruit -mix of dried fruit: golden sultanas, raisins, cranberries and currants.
  • 20 g seeds -flaxseeds, sunflower, pumpkin seeds -the seeds must be lightly toasted
  • 1 tsp mixed spice or allspice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp mixed peel -candied peel from oranges and lemons
  • 3 cm fresh ginger root -substitute with 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 25 g glace cherries -red or green
  • 15 g organic coconut flour -substitute with almond flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp artificial almond flavour optional
  • 1 large egg

Icing

  • 150 g white fondant
  • 15 g green fondant with green food colour for painting - optional
  • 15 g red fondant

Buttercream icing

  • 1 tsp pineapple flavour please use any clear colour of flavouring you wish in your icing.
  • 60 g soften unsalted butter
  • 150 g icing sugar

Fruit soak

  • 500 ml pineapple juice substitute with orange juice

Instructions
 

Fruit Soak

  • Place the dried fruit into the pineapple juice. Briefly stir to ensure all of the fruit is coated. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight.
  • Next day remove the covering and drain the liquid, set the fruit aside.

Cake Prep

  • Preheat your oven to either 120°C or 110°C fan.
  • Grease the inside of your tin with margarine or oil.
  • Draw around the base of the cake tin and cut out a circle. Then cut a strip of baking paper out that is the same height as the sides of your tin. Place the paper around the side of the tin and then put in the circular piece in the bottom. Set your cake tin aside.
    😍Note if you are using a silicon cake mould like we have at school, you can skip this step.
  • In a dry frying pan, place the seeds for toasting. Using medium to high heat to toast the seeds. They are ready when you can smell the aroma. Do be careful as it is quite easy to burn them by leaving them on the stove unattended. Set aside to cool.

Cake batter

  • Cream together the butter and the brown sugar. It is ready when it has become lighter in colour and softer and texture.
  • Crack the egg into a bowl, add the almond or vanilla flavour. Now gently whisk until combined.
  • Add the egg in small increments while mixing - tablespoons. Only add the next bit of egg once the previous egg has been combined.
    😍Note adding the egg slowly is to prevent the cake batter from splitting.
    😩Hint: If yours does split then don't panic - add a tablespoon of flour and mix this in before adding the rest of the egg. This should help to recombine the cake batter.
  • Add the cinnamon and mixed spice to the flour.
  • Sift in the flour and spices to the cake batter. Add a pinch of salt. Use a spatula to gently fold the flour into the cake batter until it is all combined. Mix on a medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Peel the ginger.
  • Grate the ginger into the cake batter.
  • Cut the glace cherries in half with scissors and add into the batter.
  • Add the soaked fruit, toasted seeds, and candid peel. Use a metal spoon to gently fold in the fruit evenly in the cake batter.
  • Carefully place the cake batter into the cake tin. Smooth the top.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes.
  • Allow to cool for at least one to 2 hours before decorating. You could also wrap the cake in baking paper and clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight.

Crumb coat icing

  • Whip up the butter until it is soft.
  • Sift in the icing sugar. Use a spatula to mix the butter and icing sugar together.
  • Add the flavour into the buttercream icing.
  • On a low speed whip up the icing until it has become light airy and can be easily spread.
  • Place a cake board on your decorating wheel and put some of the buttercream in the centre of the cake board. Put your Christmas cake onto the cake board and stick it by pressing it down onto the icing.
    😍 Note put the cake upside down onto the cake board so that the bottom is now the top. You have a totally smooth cake😎.
  • Smother the entire cake with the buttercream icing. Smooth the icing with a spatula and remove the excess. Then place it into the freezer for approximately five minutes.
  • Apply a second coat of buttercream icing, skim the excess until it is smooth. Then place it into the freezer for approximately five minutes.
    You may need to repeat this by adding a third or fourth coat, depending on how rough the cake is.

Fondant icing

  • Sprinkle your counter with a little of cornflour or icing sugar.
  • Roll out your white fondant into a circle large enough to cover the cake.
    Hint: Try to avoid rolling out your fondant too wide as it makes it harder to place it onto your cake and smooth it, keep the circle just big enough to cover the cake you are making.
  • Remove your cake from the freezer.
    Place the white fondant over it.
    Use a fondant smoother to help the icing adhere to the buttercream. If creases form at the bottom of the fondant just lift the fondant up and ease out the crease.
  • Cut any excess white fondant away from the cake board. Wrap the ribbon around the bottom of the cake, fasten with some Sellotape

Decorations

  • Roll out your red fondant, use a circle cutter to cut shapes out for the berries.
  • Roll out your green fondant, use a leaf cutter to cut the shapes out for your holly leaves.
  • Apply some water at the back of the decorations to stick to the cake. You can also add a small Merry Christmas sign like we did in the picture.

Notes

Traditionally Christmas cakes are made a couple of months in advance and are regularly soaked with brandy. This is to help with the preservation. If you would like to try the recipe with brandy, I would recommend you soak your fruit overnight in it, instead of using fruit juice. this will add another flavour dimension.
If no one is allergic to nuts in your family then you can swap out the coconut flour for ground almonds. You can try a more traditional topping like marzipan , then royal icing to cover the cake instead of buttercream and fondant. 

Nutrition

Calories: 295kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 3gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 20mgPotassium: 123mgFiber: 2gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 391IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg
Keyword baking, dried fruit, moist, rich
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!