Oh my goodness I just adore this easy boiled fruit cake recipe. I confess though I am a complete fruit cake addict. In fact, I honestly avoid making it now as I literally devour the whole thing in an embarrassingly short amount of time with the hope that nobody else notices....it is my guilty pleasure.
Besides being just so unbelievably easy, the beauty of this cake is that the fruit plumps up during the boiling process, completely rehydrating and bouncing back into life. It's then just a case of mixing in the dry ingredients and job done!
I've been using this recipe from as far back as I can remember and it is always a hit with everyone. I remember one summer fete at my son's primary school a staff member buying up the whole thing rather in one go. Which was quite flattering. In a way. I guess.
Like a mad fool, I decided to try a different boiled fruit cake recipe last year, it was a sorry disappointment. As they say if it ain't broke don't fix it, less is more etc etc.
So please bake and enjoy as I present my good ol' faithful boiled fruit cake recipe to all you lovely people I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
📖 Recipe
Delicious and easy boiled fruit cake
Here's what you'll need...
- heavy bottomed saucepan
Ingredients you'll need...
Stage 1 ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 150 g dark brown sugar granulated
- 400 g mixed dried fruit
- 1½ teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 8 fl oz cold water
Stage 2 ingredients
- 100 g self raising flour
- 100 g plain flour
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 medium eggs light beaten
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar optional
Here's what we do...
Stage 1
- Check your fruit to ensure it is all separated and not stuck together in clumps.
- Put all stage 1 ingredients into your saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted and sugar has dissolved.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for 1 minute.
- Leave to cool.
Stage 2
- Heat your oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas mark 3
- Grease your baking tin with butter and line the base with greaseproof paper.
- Sift the flours and salt together.
- Add half of the beaten eggs and half of the flour mixture to the stage 1 ingredients and fold in with a wooden spoon.
- Add the rest of the eggs and flour and fold in until fully incorporated, do not over mix but do ensure there are no pockets of flour remaining.
- Pour the mixture into your cake tin and gently level out.
- Sprinkle the demerara sugar over evenly over the top.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minute, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and cooling on a cooling rack.
Make Your own Notes on this Recipe here...
Helen says
Can this cake be made with Guinness instead of water? I had a wonderful recipe years ago that included Guinness but lost it.
Ella's Better Bakes says
Hi Helen, yes you can certainly, it gives the boiled cake a delicious malty depth.
Pete says
Stage 2 says add baking powder this is not mentioned in the ingredients list
Ella's Better Bakes says
Hi, oops you are quite correct. There is no baking powder in the stage 2 ingredients, I have now removed that from the method. You just need your 2 flours, salt and eggs and demerara to sprinkle on top. This was my first blog post, I can only say I was a bit new to it all a few years ago! Thanks for taking the time to point the issue out. I hope you enjoy your fruit cake, this is such an easy recipe and I absolutely adore it!