Brazen's Mum's Boiled Fruit Cake

[CarolineW]

I made the recipe from Brazen's blog http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/2008/09/mums-boiled-fruit-cake.html yesterday and adapted it for the TMX.  I'm eating a slice as I type this, with my cup of tea, and very nice it is too!  Every bit as nice as the boiled fruit cake I used to make before I lost the recipe.  I haven't changed the measurements into grams yet, but I'll do that next time (unless anyone beats me to it in the meantime   )

Ingredients

2 cups raisins
2 cups sultanas
2 cups currants
1 cup water
250g butter / margarine
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cups SR flour
1 cup plain flour
1 ½ tspn bicarb soda
1 tspn mixed spice
3 tabs brandy

Preparation

1.  Grease & line cake tin. Preheat a slow oven (150’C / 300’F)

2.  Put fruit, water, sugar & butter in TMX bowl.  90oC / 15 mins /    

3.  Leave in the jug to finish cooking in the residual heat.  Brazen leaves hers for about an hour.  I left mine overnight as I'd run out of energy for the day!

4.  Add the rest of the ingredients - carefully.  It comes to exactly 2 lts, so the maximum capacity of the TMX.  Don't go over the 2 lt mark, so if you're using brandy or another liquor (I used Port) add that last when you can see how much room you have.  I used 2.5 tbsp.  Speed 5 / about 7 secs.  Listen and watch, you just need it to all mix in properly.

5.  Pour into prepared cake tin and bake.  Mine took about 1 hr 45 mins.

Tips  I sprinkled some flaked almonds on the bottom of the tin before I poured in the cake mix.  It tastes so nice with the nuts that I'll probably replace a little bit of the fruit with nuts next time (there's no room in the bowl to just add the nuts).

members comments

faffa with a more manageable quantity for the Thermomix -
Here you go, this is about 3/4 the recipe so should fit easily.

1 3/4 cups raisins
1 3/4 cups sultanas
1 3/4 cups currants
3/4 cup water
190g butter / margarine
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup SR flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1 1/8 tspn bicarb soda
3/4 tspn mixed spice
2 1/4 tabs brandy

This one is quite easy to do the maths on as most of the ingredients are whole numbers. I reduced it by a quarter because of the eggs.

[brazen20au]

well done caroline!

[Thermomixer]

Thanks girls.  Just wonder why not reduce the  volumes slightly so that it all fits in well ?  The reason I ask is that I received a recipe on Monday that was just way too much for the TMX.  But I was told that the consultant had made it easily a few times.

Will post some pictures to show the fun.

What sized tin did you use?

[cookie1]

What a yummy sounding cake. Boiled fruit cakes are so easy and tasty. DD is changing jobs and everyone has told her to bring in a cake before she goes, so this will be one of them.
Thank you both.

[CarolineW]

What sized tin did you use?

Drat - I was hoping noone would ask me that before I had the chance to have a less lazy day, when I planned to measure it and see    You made me overcome my laziness today instead!

I used a 20 cm / 8" deep tin that I use for all my fruit cakes.  I measured the depth to approx. where the batter came, and it's about 9 cm.  So it could obviously be cooked in a bigger tin too, for less time.  I made sure my liner came up above the rim just in case, so it didn't spill over when it rose.  I also put a silpat mat underneath, just in case it did still spill (it didn't).

  Just wonder why not reduce the  volumes slightly so that it all fits in well ? 

I couldn't be bothered to do the maths     Plus, it worked    So applying the old maxim 'Don't fix it if it ain't broke"    Feel free to scale it down a bit, though.  It probably wouldn't be a bad idea, I'm just bad at maths and only do that kind of thing if I absolutely HAVE to 

[brazen20au]

haha ditto what caroline said!

i usually cook mine in 2 smaller tins as i don't have a big enough one, so my cakes take less time to cook

[faffa_70]

Here you go  This is about 3/4 the recipe so should fit easily

1 ³/₄ cups raisins
1 ³/₄ cups sultanas
1 ³/₄ cups currants
³/₄ cup water
190g butter / margarine
1 ³/₄ cups brown sugar
3 eggs
³/₄ cup SR flour
³/₄ cup plain flour
1 ¹/₈ tspn bicarb soda
³/₄ tspn mixed spice
2 ¹/₄ tabs brandy

This one is quite easy to do the maths on as most of the ingredients are whole numbers. I reduced it by a quarter because of the eggs 

[judydawn]

Thanks Kathryn 

[cookie1]

Gold star for you.

[brazen20au]

does anyone ever really measure the brandy? 

[CarolineW]

    Well, I already had the spoon out for something else, and knew that I wanted to post the recipe if it was successful.  But usually ....

[CarolineW]

Thanks, Kathryn.  Now I have a choice of which size to make.  The safe option, or the 'works if you're careful and gives a great big lovely cake' option 

Guess I'll usually be a good girl and take the safe option.

[CarolineW]

I've only just remembered that I didn't have enough brown sugar, so I replaced what was lacking with some black treacle.  I'm just noting this for myself, really, in case we don't enjoy the next cake quite as much.  I may do it anyway, as I discovered yesterday that black treacle is iron rich, which I didn't know before.

[faffa_70]

Oh yum treacle .... almost as good as molasses!!! 

[cookie1]

I love  molasses. When I was a kid and Dad fed it too the cattle (in drought times) I would put my hand under and eat it by the handful. Then when we were in Bundaberg going over the distillery they gave us tastes and I went back for more. I found there that I do like Bundy rum. Is it any wonder I have to watch my weight so very carefully??? It must be my happy misspent childhood.