This was a firm favourite of mine growing up. My gran always had a fruitcake in the tin for with tea in the afternoon. This is her recipe that she passed on to me and now I’m passing on to you. Learn how to make a traditional fruit cake so you can always have cake available.
Gran had a catchphrase that she always said as I walked through the door. “Hi love, are you hungry?” She loved to feed people and I think that’s where I get it from. When I think of grans cooking I think of roast chicken dinner, cream cakes, apple pie and this fruit cake.
This fruit cake is fairly easy to put together, but grans measurements were “one of my grandmas spoons” or “a good glue of milk” I have simplified it for you by measuring the weight of her grandmas spoon. Yes I do still have my grans, grandmas tablespoon. I am a hoarder of anything my gran gave me and they are worth more than the Crown Jewels to me.
Ingredients- Traditional fruit cake
Wet ingredients
- 4oz Baking margarine
- 4oz Granulated sugar
- 2 Large eggs
- 1tbsp milk
Dry ingredients
- 8oz Self raising flour
- 1tsp Mixed Spice
- 12oz dried mixed fruit
Method – Traditional fruit cake
- Pre heat your oven to 150C (300F) if you are cooking in a conventional oven. If cooking in an Aga we will be using the simmering oven.
- Grease and line an 8″ round cake tin with baking parchment ready for the mixture to go into. I use my grans cake tin, which incidentally also belonged to her gran too. You can buy similar cake tins now, but “use what you have” I always say.
- Put the margarine and sugar into the mixer and mix until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and milk then beat until smooth.
- In a separate bowl add the flour and mixed spice. Mix to combine the two with a fork. This will also break up any lumps in the flour.
- Measure out the dried fruit and add it to the flour mixture. Stir to combine the fruit evenly with the flour mixture. This also coats the fruit with flour and stops it from sticking together in clumps.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.
- With a wooden spoon combine the wet and dry ingredients, but be careful not to over mix. Over mixing will make the cake dense.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and pop it in the oven. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer that is poked into the centre comes out clean. Anyone who has baked in an Aga will know that they are divas and giving a specific timing is irrelevant to Madame Aga. She will cook the cake beautifully, but in her own time.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly with a cotton tea towel over the top to prevent the top becoming hard.
- When it has cooled enough to touch, take it out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
- Store in a tin so it is ready to eat whenever the mood strikes or take it on a picnic when April has finished throwing a tantrum and there is now more snow.
More sweet recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe I have some other sweet recipes that would be fantastic for a picnic.
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I hope you love this cake as much as we do.
See you soon
Happy making and happy baking
Sam x