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...
Irene says
Please help, i love fruit cake cookies, but i use the fruit cake mix and when the cookies bake some of that fruit gets real hard and chewy. Can i use the boiled fruit method and incorporate into my cookie dough?
Ella's Better Bakes says
Hi Irene, I haven't made fruit cake cookies using the boiled fruit cake method myself, but I suspect the problem may be that you'd need to reserve the sugar for the cookie base mix rather than boiling it up with the fruit and as such would not have enough liquid to rehydrate the fruit. It's a tricky one, but if you do succeed please do come back and let me know how you got on 😀
Anne Holloway says
Made this twice now but used dairy free butter instead of unsalted butter and it’s just as nice really moist . It was such a hit I’m making one a week for family .
Nice to be able to make a dairy free cake that my grandchildren and son can enjoy,especially with custard.
Ella's Better Bakes says
Hi Anne. Thank you for taking the time to comment, I love to hear how people are finding my recipes 🥰. I bake this Easy Fruit Cake regularly myself too, absolutely adore it and it is so simple. Really pleased to hear it can easily be adapted to dairy free! I am sure that will be useful for many other bakers. Serving it with custard is an excellent idea too! Going to have to make it again myself now and try it with custard (any excused hehe).
Jayne says
Oh my, the best boiled fruit cake, delicious, 4th time making, adding a few cherries this time, cant wait
Ella's Better Bakes says
Hi Jayne
It's a great recipe isn't it and so easy. Truth is, this is the first recipe I ever posted on Ella's Better Bakes and it has really taken off, people are loving it! This recipe was handed down in our family from my gran, I adore how simple it is and you can add whatever dried fruits or nuts you choose. I used this as the base for my Small Christmas Cake too.
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!