Shirley's Christmas Fruit Mince Tea Cake

  

Bottled Fruit Mince is available for purchase at the supermarkets here in the lead up to Christmas, so if you are running out of time, why not take a shortcut, and instead of making your own batch of fruit mince, buy it and bake this warm and delicious Fruit Mince Tea Cake. However, if you have already made your Christmas fruit mince, your homemade batch will no doubt take this festive cake to the next level. As this cake is baking,  your home will be filled with the spicy, rich and nostalgic aromas of festive holiday baking. 

In the lead up to Christmas, adding brandy or rum to the cake mixture isn't optional for me, it's a must. However, I am not telling you it is for everyone.  If you aren't a fan of a rich fruity Christmas cake, this lighter option could be for you. It's perfect in taste and texture for a delicious morning or afternoon tea or even for dessert with cream, ice-cream or custard, and being the lead up to Christmas (8 days to go, yikes), the cake can be decorated in the Christmas tradition if you wish. If you have friends or family visiting for Christmas, this is also a lovely option to serve alongside the other festive treats you have on hand.  I love it just eaten warm for morning or afternoon tea, sprinkled with icing sugar, which is how we ate it today. However, it won't stay fresh as long as my Mum's traditional Christmas Fruit cake that I make which is laced with rum, but refrigeration and warming it up slightly will help. However, this is a cake that is eaten by the slice, not a small piece, as is the way with a rich fruit cake.

 There's no need to add any extra spices to this recipe, as in a jar of fruit mince they've already been added. Spices like Cinnamon, Dill, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg and a hint of Coriander, are already included in the Fruit Mince I used, and the smell of this cake cooking in the oven is just heavenly. The aroma filled the house beautifully. This cake only takes around 15 minutes to prepare, 50 minutes to cook, and doesn't require an electric mixer, so it is quick to mix together and perfect to make on the day of eating. 

I used Robertson's Traditional Fruit Mince in a bottle for this recipe. Using bottled Fruit Mince makes this a very economical fruit cake to bake, as leading up to Christmas, dried fruits have become very expensive to make a traditional Christmas Fruit Cake, however I still make one every year. I love the tradition.

Ingredients:

Serves 10

2 cups (250 g) plain flour

1/2 cup (110 g) castor sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bi-carbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg beaten

1/4 cup (65 ml) vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 cups Fruit Mince

1 tablespoon Rum or Brandy 

(Apologies, Google highlighted all of the ingredients and a few other links on me. I unlinked some of them.)

Preparation method:

Preparation: 10 minutes : Cook 50 minutes

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C., which is moderate oven. Grease and line your tin with baking paper. 

Use a 23 cm round tin, or a 23 x 13 cm loaf tin.

Mix together the wet ingredients, the egg, oil, orange rind, juice, brandy or rum,  and the fruit mince, blending well in a large bowl. I actually think I prefer brandy in this lighter cake.

Sift the flour with the baking powder, bi-carb of soda and salt into a bowl, and combine with the sugar, and add gradually to the egg mixture. 

Mix until just moist.

 Pour the mixture into the greased and lined  tin.

Bake in your preheated moderate oven for 50 minutes. It might take a bit longer depending on your oven. When cooked, remove the cake from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

This is amazing to eat when still slightly warm. 

Delicious just sprinkled with icing sugar.

A little backstory:

This cake has been a favourite of mine to bake and eat for many years, at anytime during the year, ever since Shirley, one of our original Mahjong ladies, used to bake it for us sometimes when it was her turn to host Mahjong. Shirley always had the air-conditioning on in her beautiful home, and I think this helped to emphasize the tantalising and inviting aromas of this cake as I walked through her front door. Shirley didn't promote herself as much of a cake baker, but this cake was always a triumph. Shirley and her husband now live in Brisbane, so it's been up to me to continue the tradition of baking this cake. Thanks Shirley.

This could be my last post that I write before Christmas.  However, I will be working away at recipes for 2026. It's been an absolute pleasure cooking and sharing my recipes with you throughout the year, and feeling the inspiration from other bloggers that I follow and who write to me, and from friends and family who read my blog.

Happy festive Christmas to you all, to family and friends, and I am praying for peace everywhere over this holiday period. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones before Christmas.

I look forward to being back in 2026 with bells on.

Warmest wishes with some extra sparkle for Christmas,  

from Pauline and Mr. HRK (who at the moment is making pasta from scratch for dinner tonight.)

Leftovers stored away for tomorrow.