Here’s my classic Christmas Cake converted into mini form! They look so great lined up on a platter to serve at a gathering, and are also ideal for gifting because they have a long shelf life. The cake is beautifully moist, rich with dried fruit, perfumed with Christmas spices. Dense, but soft pudding-like, not like an enjoyable brick as many store bought ones are.

Ingredients

Fast soaked fruit (Note 1):
300g / 10 oz raisins
150g / 5 oz diced dried apricots , chopped 8 mm / 1/3″
75g / 2 1/2 oz mixed peel , diced 5mm / 1/5
150g / 5 oz glace cherries , chopped 8 mm / 1/3″
180g / 6 oz dates , diced 5mm / 1/5″
1 cup + 2 tbsp apple juice , OR 1/3 brandy + 2/3 juice (Note 2)
Cake:
115g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (1 US stick)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar , packed (or dark brown sugar for a darker crumb, Note 3)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola, peanut, grapeseed)
3 tbsp molasses or golden syrup (Note 4)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 2/3 cups plain flour (all purpose flour)
3/4 cup walnuts , chopped (optional)
Decorating
Icing sugar, for dusting
Christmas fondant – see directions here
Christmas Pudding Drippy Glaze
1 1/2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar
1 tbsp / 15g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 – 3 tbsp milk

Instructions:

Fast Soaked Fruit:
Heat – Place dried fruit and juice/brandy in a large microwavable container. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high or until hot.
Soak – Stir to coat all fruit in liquid. Cover then set aside for 1 hour (to plump up/soak and cool).
Cake:
Preheat oven to 160°C / 320°F (140°C fan). Grease and line a 20cm / 8″ square cake pan with baking paper / parchment paper, or larger pan to get more cakes out of it. (Note 5 on pan size).
Beating – Using an electric beater, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute on speed 5). Add oil and molasses, beat until combined. Add salt, spices and baking powder – beat until incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated.
Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon, then the dried fruit (including all the extra liquid in bowl) and walnuts (if using).
Pour into the cake pan, it will fill it right to the top (it won’t spill over, the cake barely rises). Cover the surface with paper then cover with foil.
Bake 2 1/2 hours – Bake for 2 hours, remove the foil and paper, then bake for a further 30 minutes. A skewer inserted into middle should come out clean with no batter on it.
Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting.
Cutting – Trim off the sides (to make them neat). Then cut into 9 squares (or more, if you want). Trim the surface (to make them level as the cake slightly domes). Then flip upside down and decorate the base of the cake.
Decorating, gifting and serving
Simple – Dust with icing sugar. That’s all this cake needs, it’s so full flavoured and moist! Wrap with cellophane and ribbon to gift.
Ribbon – Wrap and tie a ribbon around each cake. Nice way to present for serving. (Optional to include for gift wrapping too, but then there’s a double ribbon situation happening – ie ribbon and cake, ribbon on cellophane!)
Drippy white glaze – Mix the icing sugar, butter, vanilla and start with 2 tbsp milk. Mix really well (it will take time to come together, be patient). Then adjust thickness using 1/2 tsp milk at a time. BE CAREFUL – it goes from too thick to too thin very easily! Goal: Thick glaze that will ooze “pudding style”, as pictured, rather than dripping in long streaks. Spoon onto cake, coaxing it down the sides. Allow to set before wrapping.
Fondant – See directions in my classic round Christmas Cake.
Serving – serve with custard for a traditional experience! Either homemade custard or store bought pouring custard.

Notes

1. Dried fruit – any fruit of choice can be used as long as it totals 855g / 30 oz and it’s finely chopped. Combination I’ve used is to my taste – I do not like my fruit cake too citrusy (hate biting into big chunks of orange peel!). I like having variety for flavour.
Mixed peel is a store bought mix of diced, dried, crystallised (ie sweet) orange and lemon peel. Sometimes it’s already chopped, sometimes not. Chop it to size per recipe. It is not fresh peel. Fresh peel will be much stronger and more bitter – not sure how much to use.
Pre chopped mixed dried fruit – store bought mix of pre chopped dried fruit is fine to use. Chopping your own will yield a more moist cake (pre chopped dried fruit is not as moist) BUT having said that, this cake is so ultra moist, it has the give to use pre chopped!

2. Juice / brandy – this cake tastes just as good made with or without alcohol, it comes down to personal taste. I usually make it without because Christmas Cake stretches far and I want everyone to be able to eat it.
BRANDY – If you want to use brandy, use 1/3 cup brandy PLUS 2/3 cup + 2 tbsp juice.
Juice – I like using apple juice for its neutral flavour. Pineapple and other not so strong flavoured juices will be fine here. If you like citrus flavour, use orange juice – you can taste it a bit more than other juices.

3. Dark brown sugar – makes the cake a rich dark brown colour. Can sub with normal brown sugar – will make cake lighter (also looks nice as fruit stands out!)

4. Molasses / golden syrup – adds to the richness of flavour and colour of cake. Either is fine – I interchange year on year.

5. Cake pan size – A square 20cm/8″ pan makes a 4.5cm / 1.8″ tall cake which is a nice height for 9 squares. Feel free to make this cake in a larger cake pan. a 23 x 33cm/9 x 13″ pan will make a cake 2.3cm / 0.9″ thick, it takes around 1 hour 45 minutes to bake (covered for 1 hour 15 minutes, then uncovered for 30 minutes). Don’t fret about exact baking times because the cake is very moist so it’s forgiving.
You can also use a muffin tin – silver liners look lovely. They take around 25 minutes to bake (no need to cover, just bake uncovered).

6. Serving – cake is moist and so full flavoured it’s wonderful eaten plain. But for an extra special touch, serve with custard.

7. Storage – I’ve kept it for a month in an airtight container in the fridge and it was good as it was freshly made (at room temperature). Having researched online, looks like 2 to 3 months is the general consensus (for fridge) and a year in the freezer (for this sort of cake, with no alcohol.