Cointreau fruit cake

A fruit cake that’s light enough to be  loved by the Christmas cake haters in our house.

Makes an 8 inch cake

Ingredients

for the day before

200g sultanas
200g raisins
200g naturally coloured glacé cherries, sliced in half
100g whole candied peel, cut into small pieces
grated zest of 1 medium lemon
3 tablespoons Cointreau
4 tablespoons orange juice

to make the cake

250g slightly salted butter
250g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
250g self-raising flour
60g ground almonds
one 8 inch round cake tin or one 7 inch square cake tin
greaseproof paper
brown paper
string

Method

The day before you’re going to cook the cake:

1. Put all the fruit, candied peel and lemon zest in a large bowl.
2. Add the Cointreau and orange juice. (If you want to make a boozier cake, replace some of the orange juice with more Cointreau.)
3. Stir the liquid in well.
4. Cover the bowl with cling film and put in cool, dry place for 12 to 24 hours.

The following day:

1. Line the cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof and put a double thickness of brown paper round the outside so it stands approximately 1 inch above the top of the tin, securing with string.
2. Make sure the oven shelves are far enough apart to take the tin and the brown paper.
3. Preheat the oven to 150°C
4. Cream together the butter and sugar
5. Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture, one at a time.
6. Fold in the flour and the ground almonds.
7. Fold in the fruit mixture that you made yesterday.
8. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin.
9. Put the cake in the oven and put a thin baking sheet on top (the brown paper should support it)
10. Cook the cake as follows:
    • 50 minutes @ 150°C with the baking sheet in place
    • 20 minutes @ 130°C with the baking sheet in place
    • 5 to 10 minutes @ 130°C without the baking sheet to finish browning the top

    NB: The temperature and times in this recipe are for a fan oven. If you’ve got a conventional oven, you’ll need to up the temperature by 10 to 20°C and increase the cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes per hour.
    If it’s cooked, the cake will be springy in the centre when you press it with your finger and if you insert a skewer, it will come out almost clean.

11. When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and leave it to cool completely in the tin.
12. Once it is cool, remove it from the tin. If you’re not going to eat it or decorate it immediately, leave the greaseproof paper on, wrap it in a new sheet of greaseproof, then store it in an airtight container.

Tips

• If you’re going to use this as your Christmas cake, make it at the end of October and feed it each week with 2 to 3 teaspoons of Cointreau.
• If you want a change, you can replace some or all of the raisins with ready-to-eat dried apricots.