Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake for Stir-up Sunday
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Pick your tin, then scale everything to it
The ingredient list is written for one 8-inch (20 cm) round tin about 3 in (7.5 cm) deep, which cuts 16–20 slices. Ingredient amounts follow the tin's base area, so multiply every ingredient by the same factor:
- 6-inch (15 cm) round: ×0.55, bake about 3–3½ hours
- 8-inch (20 cm) round or 7-inch (18 cm) square: ×1, bake about 4½ hours
- 9-inch (23 cm) round or 8-inch (20 cm) square: ×1.3, bake about 5 hours
- 10-inch (25 cm) round: ×1.6, bake about 5½–6 hours
For part-eggs, beat the eggs together and weigh them. A large egg is about 1¾ oz (50 g) out of the shell.
US swaps:
- Mixed spice becomes pumpkin pie spice.
- Black treacle becomes molasses.
- Currants are sold as Zante currants.
A bag of ready-mixed dried fruit with peel can replace the separate currants, sultanas, raisins and peel at the same total weight. That shortcut saves a lot of weighing.
Low oven, insulated tin
Most first fruit cakes fail on burnt edges and a raw middle, which comes from an oven running hot. Put an oven thermometer in and set the oven to 275°F (140°C, 250°F/120°C fan, gas mark 1). Turn it on while you line the tin, and only trust the setting once the thermometer agrees.
The double parchment lining and the brown-paper band tied around the outside of the tin slow the heat at the edges, so the center can catch up. This is where to spend your care. You can save time on the batter, which only needs to be smooth.
Mixing so the fruit stays put
Soak the fruit the night before. Plump fruit doesn't pull moisture out of the cake, and soaking frees up Sunday for the stirring.
Take the butter and eggs out 2 hours ahead. Cold eggs are the main reason a batter curdles, and a spoon of the measured flour added with each egg prevents it.
Rinse and dry the glacé cherries so the syrup doesn't drag them to the bottom. The finished batter should be thick enough to drop slowly off the spoon.
Stir-up Sunday custom is for everyone in the house to give it a stir and make a wish, so call them in before you add the fruit.
Knowing it's done, then feeding
The cake is done when a skewer pushed into the center comes out with no wet batter (a smear of sticky fruit is fine) and the top feels firm and doesn't sink under a fingertip. If you use a probe thermometer, look for 200–210°F (93–99°C).
For feeding, use brandy, dark rum, whisky or sherry, 1–2 tbsp every 1–2 weeks. Stop a week before you add marzipan, or the cake turns soggy.
Missed Stir-up Sunday? A cake baked by about December 10 still has time for two feeds. If you bake later than that, soak the fruit for 2–3 days and skip feeding.
If you're baking alcohol-free, soak the fruit in cold strong tea or orange juice and skip feeding. That cake keeps about 2 weeks in a cool place, or freeze it wrapped until mid-December.
In a warm kitchen (above about 75°F/24°C, as in an Australian summer), keep any version wrapped in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before cutting.
- When the batter looks curdled or grainy after adding an egg→Beat in 1 tbsp of the measured flour before the next egg and keep going; the batter will come back together once all the flour is folded in.
- When the top is already deep brown halfway through baking→Lay a square of parchment with a small hole cut in the middle loosely over the tin and keep baking at the same temperature.
- When the skewer still shows wet batter at the expected end time→Return the cake to the oven and test again every 15 minutes rather than raising the temperature.
- • Currants — 1 lb (450 g)
- • Sultanas (golden raisins) — 6 oz (175 g)
- • Raisins — 6 oz (175 g)
- • Glacé (candied) cherries — 2 oz (50 g)
- • Candied mixed peel — 2 oz (50 g)
- • Brandy (or dark rum, whisky, sherry) — 3/4 cup (180 ml)
- • All-purpose (plain) flour — 1 3/4 cups (225 g)
- • Unsalted butter — 1 cup / 2 sticks (225 g)
- • Dark brown sugar — 1 1/8 cups packed (225 g)
- • Large eggs — 4 pcs
- • Chopped almonds — scant 1/2 cup (50 g)
- • Black treacle or molasses — 1 tbsp
- • Orange and lemon — 2 pcs
- • Spices and salt — 1 set
- • Parchment paper — 6 sheets
- • Brown paper or newspaper and kitchen string — 1 band
- • Aluminum foil — 2 sheets
- • Deep round cake tin — 1 pcs
- • Oven thermometer — 1 pcs
- • Kitchen scale — 1 pcs
- • Electric hand mixer or stand mixer — 1 pcs
- • Large mixing bowl and wooden spoon — 1 set
- • Fine grater or zester — 1 pcs
- • Metal skewer — 1 pcs
- • Airtight cake tin or container — 1 pcs
- 01Soak the fruitThe night before (up to 3 days ahead), mix all the dried fruit, peel, cherries and zest with 1/4 cup (60 ml) brandy in a covered bowl, stirring once or twice, until most of the liquid is absorbed.⏱ 15분
- 02Preheat, line and wrap the tinSwitch the oven on with the thermometer inside, then line the base and sides with a double layer of parchment standing 2 in (5 cm) above the rim and tie a folded band of brown paper or newspaper around the outside with string, keeping paper and string clear of any gas flame or exposed element.⏱ 20분
- 03Make the batterCream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until pale and fluffy, beat in the eggs one at a time with 1 tbsp flour each, fold in the remaining flour, spices and salt, then stir in the fruit, almonds and treacle while everyone takes a turn and makes a wish.⏱ 35분
- 04Fill and bakeSpoon the batter in, level it with a slight hollow in the center, and bake at 275°F (140°C, 250°F/120°C fan, gas mark 1) for about 4½ hours unattended, testing with a skewer from the 4-hour mark until it comes out free of wet batter.⏱ 15분
- 05Cool, feed and wrapOnce the cake has cooled completely in the tin (overnight is easiest), poke 10–12 skewer holes, spoon over 2 tbsp brandy, wrap it in parchment then foil and store it airtight in a cool cupboard (or the fridge if your kitchen tops 75°F/24°C), writing the date of this first feed on a note.⏱ 15분