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Total Time:
3 hrs 45 mins
- 175 g
(6oz) each prunes, roughly chopped, raisins and currants
- 125 g
(4oz) natural glacé cherries, halved
- 100 g
(3½oz) candied peel, chopped
- 250 ml
(9fl oz) dark rum
- 175 g
(6oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 175 g
(6oz) dark molasses sugar, sieved
- 4
medium eggs, beaten
- 200 g
(7oz) self-raising flour
3 level tbsp molasses
- 1 Tbsp.
vanilla extract
- 40 g
(1½oz) stem ginger pieces, chopped
For the topping
- 450
(1lb) golden icing sugar, sifted
3 level tbsp glucose syrup
- 50
(2oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 Tbsp.
dark rum
- 25
(1oz) dried cranberries, to decorate
- Step 1
Put the prunes, raisins, currants, cherries and peel in a lidded container and add the rum. Cover and leave to stand for at least 24 hours or up to two weeks, stirring occasionally, until most of the rum is absorbed.
- Step 2
Grease and line an 18cm (7in) round, deep cake tin with greaseproof paper. Using a slotted spoon, drain and weigh out 450g (1lb) of the soaked fruit. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a thick purée. Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan oven) mark 2.
- Step 3
Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, adding some of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Add the remaining fruit and any rum juices to the bowl along with the dried fruit purée, molasses, vanilla extract, stem ginger and remaining flour. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold the ingredients together until evenly combined.
- Step 4
Turn into the prepared tin and bake for 3hr or until firm and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then wrap in foil and store for up to two weeks or until ready to decorate.
- Step 5
To decorate the cake, put the icing sugar in a bowl and add the glucose, softened butter and rum. Beat with an electric whisk until the mixture is smooth, creamy and softly peaking.
- Step 6
Put the cake on a flat serving plate and swirl the icing over the top and sides using a palette knife. Scatter over the cranberries.
Other Christmas cake recipes to try:
How to make Christmas cake
The best Christmas cake recipes
Chocolate cherry Christmas cake
The best Christmas supermarket cakes
Cook's tips
Make ahead: Soak the fruit as in step 1 for up to two weeks. Make the cake up to the end of step 4, wrap in foil and store in an airtight container for up to one month. Decorate the cake, then store in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within a week or freeze.
To freeze: Open-freeze the iced cake until solid, then wrap in clingfilm, label and store for up to three months. Thaw at cool room temperature overnight.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 440
- Total carbs: 78 g
- Total fat: 12 g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
