Australian Farmhouse Boiled Fruit Cake
From huxter 14 years ago
- 180 minutes to make
- Serves 20
This fruit cake is one handed down by generations of Australian farming women and used to feed the hungry farm workers at morning tea .It has won many prizes at Agricultural Shows .
Ingredients
- 750g sultanas shopping list
- 500g seeded raisins shopping list
- 500g currants shopping list
- 250g mixed preserved ,candied peel shopping list
- 125g glace cherries shopping list
- 125g dried apricot ,chopped shopping list
- 1 cup water shopping list
- 1 cup dark rum (or orange juice if it suits better) shopping list
- 500g butter shopping list
- 500g brown sugar shopping list
- 1 tbsp treacle shopping list
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda shopping list
- 500g plain flour shopping list
- 125g self-raising flour shopping list
- 1/4 tsp salt shopping list
- 10 eggs shopping list
How to make it
- Place all the fruit in a saucepan or stock pot
- Add the water .rum or substitute ,butter,and sugar and bring to the boil , stirring occasionally .
- Remove from the heat the moment it has boiled and stir in the treacle and bicarb soda .It will fizz a bit .
- Cover with a lid and leave overnight
- Next morning , collect your wood and light your wood stove --yes I still have one --it only compliments the gas but I love it for slow baking ! --heats our water in winter too.
- For the rest in the 21st century ,heat the oven to a slow 150 Cent ,thats about 300 F .
- Grease and line a deep 12 inch square cake tin or pan .Use several thicknesses of well greased paper and make sure you have no wrinkles --thats the paper ,not our faces !! mine dropped years ago .
- Sift together the flours and salt
- Beat the eggs well and add them alternatively to the fruit mixture with the flour .
- Spoon into the prepared pan filling to about an inch deep ,then smooth into the corners making sure of no air pockets .Then fill with the rest of the mixture .
- When all the mixture is in ,bump the pan on the bench to settle the mixture evenly .
- Bake for 3 hours until a skewer inserted comes out cleanly .
- The cake should have a smooth appearance on the top , bottom,and sides and should be moist to the touch ,with a shiny surface .
- This will keep for months if stored ,well wrapped in an air tight container ,and will only improve with age ,like a good wine .
- Any combination of dried fruits can be used depending on what you have available .This comes from a time when most ingredients would have been home sourced from the orchard
- I have used small amounts dried mango and pawpaw to great applause
- Note --for some nostalgic reason ,this always tastes better ,as do roasted meats ,when cooked in our wood fired combustion range .I'm not sure there is a rational scientific reason ,just romance but whats the world without romance !!!
The Rating
Reviewed by 7 people-
great post... I agree wood stove cooking does taste better...^5
peetabear
in mid-hudson valley loved it
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I agree- great post and share!
midgelet
in Whereabouts loved it
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This sounds delicious & I can't wait to get one made. Thanks & 5 forks
brianna
in loved it
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