Christmas Fruit Cake

Here it is - the Christmas Fruit Cake that I promised you, KT!

This cake is not the traditional fruit cake which is very sweet and dense. This cake is soft, moist, light and the sweetness is just right. The softness and lightness of this cake comes from the fluffy egg whites which is beaten till stiff peaks.

The freshly grated orange and lemon zest make the aroma of this cake just perfect. For that extra kick, I've added all spice to it. Smells heavenly while the cake is being bake.

If you do not already have a Christmas Fruit Cake recipe, this one is worth trying, at least for me.

This is my fourth bake in 2 days.





Egg whites should be beaten to stiff peaks just like in this photo.


Ingredients: (8" round cake pan)
225g butter (at room temperature)
130g light muscovado sugar
4 egg yolks (at room temperature)
1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt
15g orange zest
15g lemon zest
4 tbsp orange juice

300g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 - 1 tsp all spice

300g - 400g mixed dried fruits (soaked in 3 - 4 tbsp of your favorite liquer)

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

Method:
1. Soak dried fruits in liquer for at least 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven at 170C. Line the bottom of baking pan with 2 layers of baking paper. Either line the sides or grease the sides.
3. Sieve flour, baking powder and spice and leave aside for use later. Remove 50g of this flour mixture and mix it into the dried fruits.
4. Cream butter till soft, add in the salt and muscovado sugar and beat till mixture is pale and fluffy.
5. Beat in the yolk one at a time. Add in the orange and lemon zest.
6. Mix in the orange juice alternating with sieved flour mixture till well combined.
7. Beat egg whites till bubbly, add in the cream of tartar and beat till it is white in color. Add in sugar by thirds and beat till stiff peaks formed.
8. Fold whites into the butter mixture gently.
9. Add in dried fruits and mix gently.
10. Pour batter into cake pan and smooth out the surface with a wet spatula, at the same time make a very shallow hallow in the middle of the batter for even rising.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 160C and bake for 90 - 100 minutes or till cooked and golden brown.
12. Drizzle cooked cake with a tablespoon of liquer and leave it to cool in its baking pan.

Notes:
I used only 300g of mixed dried fruits, so the sweetness for the cake is just right.