Try our easy boiled fruit cake recipe
My children's Grandma, fondly know as Grandma Freda, was an excellent cook. A lovely little Cornish lady, she was an active member of the Salvation Army and had a heart of gold. She loved to bake and among her many specialities (pasties included) was this wonderful boiled fruit cake recipe. Whenever we visited, there would always be a cake on the kitchen table and one in a tin for us to take home.
This is such a quick and easy recipe, it never fails to impress and can even be made in batches and frozen. This is definitely one of those recipes that has been passed down through the generations and the making and the eating of it evoke such fond memories.
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I use butter instead of margarine, but that's just personal choice, either work well. I also add mixed spice and often cherries and even nuts. I occasionally add brandy which gives it a bit of a festive feel and, if you were short of time, it would make an excellent substitute for a traditional Christmas cake!
Perfect with a cup of tea, or take a slice to work in our Reusable Snack Bag! Do give it a try and let me know how you get on.
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Boiled Fruit Cake Recipe ingredients:
1/4 lb butter 1/4 lb dark brown moist sugar 1/4 pt water 3/4 lb dried fruit (stored above in our new Produce Bags, coming soon!)
1/2 lb self raising flour pinch of salt 1 egg
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Boiled Fruit Cake Recipe method:
Place all the margerine, dark brown moist sugar, water dried fruit into a saucepan and mix well. Bring to the boil and simmer. This is where I added a splash of brandy and a sprinkling of cinnamon for a festive twist. When the mixture has cooled add the egg, self raising flour and a pinch of salt, mix well. Placed into a greased oven tin, (rough size?). Bake for 90 minutes, gas mark 2-3 on the middle shelf.
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Linen Kitchen Accessories including the apron and tea towels pictured in the making of this lovely cake. All of our linen kitchen accessories are hand printed and made in our Cornish Studios. Also take a look at our Eco collection, designed to help you run a sustainable kitchen! The Reusable Snack Bags come in very handy for a takeway treat, and look out for new Produce Bags coming soon...
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I’m sure this cake is the one my mum made a long time ago. I’ve been looking for it for ages. Thank you so much. We are going to a Christmas party next week and I’ll take the cake. I’m sure everyone will love it.
Dear Helen
I too have fond memories of my Grandma Rob’s (usually sandy) fruit cake, eaten on the beach at Polhawn or Freathy as a “shivery bite”, the traditional term in our family for a snack to stave of the early stages of hypothermia when you came out of the sea (no poncy wetsuits in those days). Another favourite was my godmother’s Vinegar Cake – sounds peculiar but it’s delicious.
Thank you also for passing on your much loved family recipe in old money, although I admit that grandma’s fudge recipe is a bit tricky to follow as it includes instructions to use “the 2/6d size tin of condensed milk”
Looking forward to our next trip home to Cawsand in October (hopefully) when we always make time to visit the shop.
Clare
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