A traditional fruit cake is made using mixed dried fruits and nuts, and mixed spices. The QL Kitchen version of the classic fruit cake recipe infuses fresh orange juice with the nuts and dried fruits, to soak together overnight in the refrigerator. You can use any dried fruits and nuts of your choice, but our favourites are apricot, cranberries, sultanas, raisins, glazed cherries for the vibrant green and red colours, almonds and walnut. The end result is a buttery natural orange flavoured cake laden with mixed nuts and dried fruits that comes with a delightful sweet spiced citrusy aroma.
Furthermore, the cake is made using QL Omega or QL Deli Fresh, so that you can enjoy this delightful cake with less cholesterol.
We suggest a refreshing lime buttercream frosting for this fruit cake recipe, which goes perfectly with the fruitcake base. You only need one day to soak the dried fruits and nuts in orange juice, and another hour to bake the cake the next day. So if you have not made a classic fruit cake before, try our QL fruit cake recipe…we’re sure you’ll love it.
Ingredients
For soaking 12 – 24 hours: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 180 g | dried fruits of your choice (such as apricots, cranberries, glazed red and green cherries, dates, prunes, raisins, sultanas) | |
| 70 g | mixed nuts (such as almond, walnut, hazelnut or cashew nut) | |
| Juice and zest from 2 oranges | ||
For the cake batter: | ||
| 120 g | butter, softened at room temperature | |
| 130 g | soft brown sugar | |
| 2 | QL Deli Fresh or QL Omega eggs | |
| 200 g | all-purpose flour | |
| 1 ½ tsp | baking powder | |
| ½ tsp | salt | |
| ½ tsp | ground nutmeg | |
| ½ tsp | ground cinnamon | |
Optional lime buttercream frosting: | ||
| 60 g | butter, softened at room temperature | |
| 1 tsp | lime zest | |
| ½ tsp | vanilla extract/essence | |
| Pinch of salt | ||
| 230 g | icing sugar | |
| 2 tbsp | fresh lime juice | |
| 2 tsp | milk | |
Method
- On the day before baking, chop all dried fruits (except for sultanas and raisins) and nuts, mix in orange zest. Transfer into a glass jar or a medium bowl, pour in orange juice and leave to soak with lid covered (or cover the bowl with cling wrap) in the refrigerator for 12 – 24 hours. You can add a little more orange juice to make sure all the dried fruits and nuts are well covered.
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Line an 8-inch round baking tin with parchment or greaseproof paper, or grease a non-stick baking tin with butter.
- Sift plain flour with baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg into a medium bowl.
- Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined.
- Add sifted flour mixture to wet mixture, slowly fold in with a rubber spatula or large metal spoon until well combined.
- Fold in soaked fruits and nuts together with the soaking liquid until just combined, do not over mix.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer/toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container. The cake can last 3 – 5 days if kept in the refrigerator.
- About 1 hour before serving, pour 1 – 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice over the cake surface and leave at room temperature for 30 – 40 minutes. Spread the cake surface with your favourite frosting (or our lime buttercream frosting) before serving.
- To make lime buttercream frosting, beat butter, lime zest, vanilla extract/essence and salt with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in icing sugar and lime juice alternately, until well blended and smooth. Beat in milk to loosen texture if desired.
QL Omega & QL Deli Fresh eggs are available at major hypermarkets and supermarkets. For more information on QL Eggs, click here.
