Rich chocolate fruit cake
Store un-iced cake in the fridge for up to three months. Once iced, the cake can be stored in the fridge for two weeks. Cut and bring to room temperature before serving. We painted a branch of real holly roughly with melted dark chocolate to make the inedible decoration on the cake.
INGREDIENTS
2 x 425g cans seeded black cherries
in syrup
1 cup (150g) raisins, chopped coarsely
¾ cup (120g) finely chopped seeded dried dates
½ cup (80g) sultanas
½ cup (95g) finely chopped seeded prunes
1 cup (200g) dried figs, chopped finely
1 cup (250ml) marsala
1 cup (120g) pecans
185g butter, softened
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
(or 1 teaspoon Queen Orange Essence)
1¼ cups (275g) firmly packed dark
brown sugar
3 eggs
1¼ cups (185g) plain flour
½ cup (75g) self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons mixed spice
100g dark eating chocolate,
chopped finely
ganache
200g dark eating chocolate,
chopped coarsely
½ cup (125ml) cream
METHOD
Drain cherries; reserve 1/3 cup (80ml) syrup. Quarter the cherries. Combine cherries with remaining fruit, ¾ cup (180ml) of the marsala and reserved cherry syrup in a large bowl. Cover; stand overnight.
Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Line deep 22cm-round cake pan with two thicknesses of baking paper, extending paper 5cm above side.
Process half the nuts until ground finely; chop the remaining nuts coarsely.
Beat the butter, rind (or orange essence) and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until combined; beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix butter mixture into the fruit mixture; stir in sifted dry ingredients, chocolate and ground and chopped nuts.
Spread mixture into pan; bake for about 3 hours. Brush hot cake with the remaining marsala; cover with foil, cool in pan overnight.
Ganache
Stir chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until spreadable.
Spread the cake with the Ganache; top with chocolate decoration. Dust with sifted icing sugar to serve, if you like.
Avoid using:
- Personal attacks
- Irrelevant comments
- HTML tags
- Personal information
- Offensive language
- Text in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
See full comment guidelines
Thank you for sharing your opinions with other users of ninemsn. People will
find your comments more helpful if you include relevant information and avoid some
common pitfalls.
Please note: All reviews and comments submitted are subject to moderation, ninemsn
reserves the right to alter and / or remove any content that does not comply with
usage guidelines.
What to include in your comment:
- A title that briefly summarises the opinion expressed in the comment.
- Additional comments adding more detail.
- Comparisons to other similar products, if this is relevant.
- To create a new paragraph, press the Enter key twice.
What not to include:
- Information that will quickly go out of date.
- Comments on other comments or commenters.
- Language that other users may find offensive.
- comments of one sentence or less. Provide information to support your opinion.
- Personal information like your email address or telephone number.
- HTML coding. Tags like <b> or <i> will not be recognised.
Home