Reliable fruitcake recipe help

[Andcake]

Ds birthday on Wednesday...I am working Monday Tuesday so need to bake tomorrow. I am a dab hand at a good sponge but have never made a fruitcake. Choosing fruitcake as believe it will last better? Or should I stick to my delis sponge. Will be decorating it with ready roll icing.

[ShelaghTurner]

What sort of fruit cake and what are you planning on doing with it. That's quite short notice for a fruit cake.

[drinkyourmilk]

God I love fruit cake. I'm just posting to follow, sorry!

[enjoyingscience]

Nigella's marzipan fruitcake from domestic goddess is lovely and great for eating soon after baking. You'd need to like marzipan though...

[growcookeat]

The one I use every year for Christmas is a BBC good food Christmas cake recipe. I normally 'feed' it with brandy for 6 weeks before it gets eaten but I'm sure it would taste great in a few days.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2607642/make-and-mature-christmas-cake

[growcookeat]

Or if you wanted to stick to sponge how about a Madeira sponge? I think they tend to last longer than a normal one.

[Highlove]

Carrot cake lasts better than sponge, I find. I agree it's a bit late for fruit cake - you really want to soak the fruit for a while and then feed the cake/let it mature for a few weeks afterwards.

[reallybadidea]

Just make a sponge and freeze. They freeze well, defrost quickly or alternatively they're easier to ice when frozen.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

I don't think you have time for a good rich fruit cake.

Why don't you just freeze your sponge?

[Andcake]

Unfortunately don't have room in freezer... We love marzipan though so we look into nigella,s ...

[Andcake]

Also can't have booze in it as quite a few under 5s... Or booze easily left out. Nigella a is v boozed but sounds yum

[bookbook]

Agree upthread - a good carrot cake. I made one for my DGS's christening, and iced a few days before. Came out perfectly. Can give you the recipe,( and it was taste tested :) )

[bookbook]

found it - it was tweaked over about 5 bakings to get to what everyone thought was good. I didn't put any filling/buttercream/topping as it had to wait and be iced.

Carrot Cake

200 gm self raising flour
115 gm plain flour
350 gm brown sugar
2 tsps cinnamon
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
250 ml sunflower oil (or rapeseed oil)
3 large carrots peeled and grated
4 medium eggs
100 gm raisins
100-140 gm chopped hazelnuts - some fine, some a bit coarser chopped
zest of 1 orange

Mix together all the dry ingredients
Add orange zest
Mix in the carrot, and gradually beat in the oil and eggs.
Pour into a greased and lined 20 cm square cake tin
bake in a preheated oven 180ºC /160º fan/gas mark 4 for 45-55 minutes

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Is fruit. Cake not a bit of a dodgy choice for lots of little ones. I know quite a few kids who don't like it. Maybe I just. Know people with unrefined taste buds!
A chocolate cake would stay moist.

[1frenchfoodie]

The guardian's perfect christmas cake(sorry, can't link but easy to google) is a really good, rich, fruity fruitcake. I leave out the citrus zest (DH not fan) and swap glace cherries for figs. For recipes soaking fruit in alcohol you can always swap in tea instead. The alcohol does evaporate in the cooking though - I'd not worry about kids having it. Different if it was a cake you 'fed' alcohol after cooking.you can allegedly keep this fir ages though we tend to eat in a few days.