I love cake………..but you probably already knew that. And one of the things I love to do in the lead up to Christmas is bake fruit cakes. I’ve made a lot of fruit cakes in my time and retro daddy has tasted a lot of them. I’ve always found the easiest and most foolproof recipes to make are the boiled fruit cake. They don’t take as long in the oven, you don’t have to soak your fruit beforehand and you still end up with a delicious cake. But I was flicking through a CWA cookbook and found pineapple fruit cake and knew I had to make it this Christmas.
and retro daddy thinks that this is the best fruit cake I’ve made. He normally likes to offer a little constructive criticism when I ask him to taste something – he obviously takes his job very seriously – but I got nothing but praise for this one. But this recipe wasn’t without fault. You see the recipe called for a can of pineapple pieces, I re-read it a couple of times because I’ve used crushed pineapple in my hummingbird cakes but not pineapple pieces.
So I made up the boiled mixture and then as I looked at it I thought those big pineapple pieces are just going to get a bit wet and soggy in the cake. So I did a quick google search and realised that I should have been using crushed pineapple. So I picked out each and every piece of pineapple, chucked them in the Thermomix and processed them on turbo a couple of times and voila, I had crushed pineapple and put them back in the mixture and you’d never know.
So do you love fruit cake at Christmas and do you make your own? Maybe your fruit is already soaking in brandy or you’ve got a cake stashed away. Let me know what you’re doing…….
- 500g mixed dried fruit
- 50g glace cherries (optional)
- 450g can crushed pineapple
- 125g unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup sugar (I used caster)
- 1 tsp bicarb soda
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 cup self raising flour
- Place dried fruit, pineapple (don't drain it), butter, sugar and bicarb in a saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium heat.
- Remove from the stove and leave to cool. I like to transfer to a big bowl and leave it to cool
- Add in eggs and mix well. Sift in the flour and mix it in well. Make sure there is no flour left at the bottom of the bowl. Nothing worse than discovering this once you've put most of the mixture into a lined tin.
- Pour into a lined square or round tin and place in a preheated oven 180C/350F and bake for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Now the cooking time will depend on your oven and the size of tin you use. Just check it with a knife or skewer at 45 minutes and if it comes out clean (don't stick it straight into a piece of fruit!) then you're done. If not put it back for another 10 minutes and test again.
- You can pour some brandy or alcohol over the top of your cake if you like but I soaked my fruit in brandy for 2 days before the cake was made.
- Leave to cool then slice and enjoy.
try this recipe at christmas http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolatefruitcake_84675
(if link doesn’t work – nigella chocolate xmas cake search)
it’s boiled fruit cake made really moist with prunes and cocoa. soooo easy and great result instantly. i even made it for in-laws anniversary and covered it with gold royal icing. i woould really recommend it.
i am enjoying new blog format.
thanks for your efforts, bridgetx
Each christmas I bake my mum’s boiled fruit cake. It was the cake I grew up with as a kid and for many years (right up until I was about 25 I think it was lol) I refused to eat any other fruit cake, insisting even that she bake my wedding fruit cake, which she did proudly
Now I try any fruit cake but still make my mum’s version each christmas. I’m going to have to try this pineapple one of yours though, it does look delicious. Since it is a lighter version, I may make one of each and keep everyone happy
Thank you for sharing!!
Love this! Thanks for sharing! Your timer is just too cute!
Hi Corrie…..as a novice brandy soaker….how much do you use and is there a particular brand that is good ?
Yummo,,,,yes I LOVE fruit/Christmas cake!! I am pondering whether to buy a CWA cookbook, they always seem to have such lovely recipes!
I make a similiar pineapple fruit cake that I got out of a Womens Weekly years ago. It is the old faithful that I always seem to go back to. Last year I made one for visitors we were expecting and the husband raved about it and I had to make one for him to take home. So now there is a standing order.
You were very patient to pick out all the pineapple!!
So excited my mum used to make this for me as a child and now I have the recipe my children can enjoy the old tradition… Thankyou
Yay Corrie, great timing as I have never made Christmas cake before and now looking at your delicious efforts I think this year will be my first, wish me luck! XO PS I hope those two sick little bubbas are feeling much better
Love this! Fruit cakes are a must during the holiday season! I used to hate it as a child, but now I looove it. Will definitely try this recipe as I love pineapple too!
Best,
Sara from Sweden
http://saraforsoker.blogspot.se/
Oh Corrie, I think you’d really like the Christmas cake I made for this year… think toasted hazelnuts, chocolate, frangelico, gorgeous dried fruits… simply divine ( I had to sample it…. now, almost half if it’s gone and the recipe makes a large cake! So I need to make another one pronto!)
How much brandy did you soak the fruit in corrie? It looks delicious! I’m off to grab the ingredients today
hi there,
I put the fruit in a mixing bowl and then about 1/2 cup and left it overnight. I gave it a stir once or twice to get the brandy throughout all of the fruit.
hope that helps, any brandy will do!
Corrie:)
Great! Thankyou
Hi Corrie
My 25 year old son has been drooling over this recipe. Can you tell me how it keeps, not that I think that will be on the cards but I would like to make some extras as gifts.
I visit your blog every day and talk about you to my family, they are looking forward to meeting my amazing new friend. How can I admit I found you on a blog……
i’m gonna make this cake tomorrow night. i just want to know the size of your baking pan that you’re using. thanks and merry christmas to you and your family.
hi corrie, i’ve just baked the cake and you were right it was DELIOUS. This cake gonna be my favourite. Thanks for sharing. Ivy from Malaysia.
Great recipe, just making my second cake now, 2 days after Christmas as first cake already eaten! I used 350 grams of mixed fruit, about 100 grams of macadamia’ sand about 50 or do grams of dried pineapple chunks. I also used a little ginger. Fantastic, easy, thankyou for sharing!
Hi luv this pineapple fruit cake all eaten and enjoyed would like to no if i make more now (before get to busy) will it last till xmas?
Every Christmas I look at the fruit cake recipes & think the photos look so yummy…but…..I really don’t like sultanas. I like other dried fruit & have often wondered if I could do one with things other than sultanas but have never been brave enough to try.
How do I keep it fresh once made and how long will it stay fresh for please?
we are fast eaters here so I have to say that it never lasts long. Keep it in an airtight container somewhere cool. I tend not to refrigerate but if you live somewhere hot then refrigerate in a container and remove at least 1 hour before you want to eat. Hope you enjoy it xx You could also wrap it really well in a few layers of foil and plastic and freeze until you want to defrost it and eat it.
I decided to give it a go, didnt have selfraising flour turned out awesome though
PLEASE can you tell us what size tin, round and square, as they would be different, to put the mix in. It makes a HUGE difference to the timing and I don’t like to keep going back and opening the oven time after time to test if it’s done. The recipe looks great otherwise.
I use a square tin as you can see from the photo which is about 20cms. This also works well in a round tin of the same size but I prefer lining the square tin.
Thanks so much for your reply Corrie, I have to confess now that I just couldn’t wait to try this recipe and baked it this morning in a 24cm (9″) round tin. It took just over an hour to cook. It tastes great and will be a definite keeper – as a recipe of course, the cake itself will be eaten in no time I should think
Thanks again.
Hi,do you also pour in the whole can of pineappe syrup to boil with the crushed pineapple and dried fruit’s?
yes:) the recipe states not to drain the pineapple so keep the syrup in
Thanks
Corrie:)
Hi,
i would love to make this as gifts.
Would it last a week or so in an air tight container or should i freeze for freshness?
Also if i made them individual in 1 1/2 cup ramekins do you think this would work, do you know how long it would take to cook?
Thanks,
Yes freeze it, wrapped well. I put in a container then wrap in a few plastic bags to avoid freezer burn. It comes out beautifully. If you make them in smaller containers then you would need to make them like a muffin and cook for about 20 minutes.
Hello Corrie,
In the UK, we can only buy crushed pineapple in its own juice (not syrup). Will the recipe still work if you add the juice?
Thanks
yes that will be fine, maybe don’t add all the juice because syrup is thicker than the juice so perhaps try starting with 2/3 of the juice. Hope that helps. Otherwise you can buy pieces in syrup if they sell that and use a food processor to turn it into crushed pineapple:) Hope that helps
Have been making a version of this for 40 years, always with juice (entire tin) not syrup, and often reducing the sugar a bit. Always gorgeous unless I burn it. These days I add ginger and cranberries.
This is such a great cake. I have made it for many years. I also add 1 teaspoon of mixed spice and cover the top with unblanched almonds before I put it in the oven 160 for about an hour. I cover the top with foil if it’s browning too much on top.
What type of dried fruit should I use?
Hi, one question, do you soak the fruit in rum before or after you boil the fruit…thanks.