(Wedding) Fruit cake recipes and tips please!!

[Nasturtium89]

Hi! Please can you pro cakers share the recipe you use for fruit wedding cakes please? I need a fabulous and flavoursome recipe - I tested Delia's rich fruitcake recipe, aged it for 3 months, just tasted it and it tastes of nothing. Well, it tastes ok but hasn't got a very rich or deep flavour. Of course I now realise I was stupid and should have tested lots of various recipes, but I have to bake the cakes next week so don't have time to do any more tests. Idiot!!

I would sooooo appreciate some recommendations for a delicious wedding-suitable fruitcake!

Thanks in advance!

Hi Nast, the one I use reguarly is the Alan Dunn, rich fruit cake, I tweak it here and there, always add gravy Browning and black treacle, but I love it, makes enough for a 12inch round with some left over, for you.

Thanks so much nanny!! I knew you'd help (I used to post as Seminyak)

Thank yoooou!

Last Christmas I soaked the fruit in alcohol overnight as per Hugh F-W. Yummy!

My best rich fruit recipe for all sizes is from my vintage Good HOusekeeping book 1975. I expect it is similar to delias, If you want the recipe I could send it to you for whatever size and shape you need. there is nothing fancy in it like black treacle but always seems to work.

Oh yes I remember you now, no probs, we're always here to help anytime. Tell you what you should do though is join Cake central,absolutely anything you want to know you'll find out on there, theres a UK thread that has about a dozen on there nattering away, lovely bunch of people on there and its very addictive, we cant go few hrs without looking in for a chat, have a look!

Hi, I have a recipe from an old family bakers. Works every time. Marking place to comeback later with it.

Australian Women's Weekly had some wonderful recipes in one of their books back in the 80's, with Glace Pineapple in.

Ah thanks everyone! I've just bought all the ingredients for Alan Dunn's recipe (£46! faint). It has figs in which swayed me! Nanny I used to go on cake Central all the time but forgot about it! Thanks for reminding me!

Yes it isn't a cheap cake but hopefully you wont think its a waste of money. Let me know what you think of it?

OK the cakes are in now and I'm petrified they're going to be too dry, like my Delia tester was. I'm SURE this is the recipe my old boss used to use at an internship I did (she didn't let me do any baking so I can't be totally sure ), figs etc..... But hers was much darker in colour. When I feed it will it get darker?? I didn't use gravy browning as not sure how, or what that even is. Knowing me I'd use an Oxo cube and end up with a beef-flavoured cake

I really want a really sticky, yummy, moist fruit cake!! I don't know how old boss did it!! She did a gorge chocolate fruitcake too. I thought the apricot jam in the batter might make it stickier. But the little 4-inchers have a fairly dry looking top. Skewer is coming out sticky and they're not shrinking away from the tins yet but they've only been in 2 hours so far. I'll check again in a bit.

12" Alan Dunn recipe made a 10", a 6" and 2 4"s. Still got the 8" to do tomorrow but I did my calculations wrong so am going to have tonnes of fruit left over! Freezer bags at the ready!!

Just taken my 4 inchers out of their tins and they are soooo dark and rich looking. Yay!!!

Thanks so much for the recipe suggestion nanny.

I think Alan Dunn's suggestion of spreading some unfruited mix over the top of the cake to stop fruit burning is a great idea and when I level the cakes and chop that bit off, all the fruit underneath will be delicious and moist. I never get such good results but using the baking-paper-wth-a-hole-in method.

I'm excited!!

*by using

So glad, hate suggesting a recipe only to find it doesn't turn out as peeps expect it to.

My mammals always used graving Browning in rich fruit cakes, it makes them lovely and dark without adding any flavour, I used well over quarter of a bottle for that amount,it was h
Just a tip, but up to you if you wanted to use it, I used to be a cook, well still am and always came up with some tips, its like when your making gravy, and you find you've added too much gravy Browning, you think oh no what now, simple solution, add some milk to lighten it, no flavour just a lightened.

Laughs uncontrollably at mammals, obviously meant ,mam. Ha ha.