Old-Fashioned Boiled Fruit Cake: An Easy One-Pot Recipe

There are some recipes that don't need to be complicated to be good, and an old-fashioned boiled fruit cake is one of them.

Packed with dried fruit and warm spices, this simple fruit cake is wonderfully moist, with no need to soak the fruit overnight. It makes the kind of afternoon treat that seems made for sitting down with a cup of tea.

Everything begins in one saucepan, where the dried fruit is gently simmered with butter, sugar and spices before being mixed with the remaining ingredients and baked.

It's an easy, forgiving recipe and a lovely one to have tucked away for weekends, lunchboxes or whenever you feel like doing a little baking at home.

Why Is It Called a Boiled Fruit Cake?

Despite the name, the cake itself isn't boiled. Instead, the dried fruit is simmered with the butter, sugar, water and spices before the flour and eggs are added.

This simple step plumps and softens the dried fruit while bringing all those lovely flavours together. It also means there's no need to remember to soak your fruit the night before.

A Note About the Sugar

Traditionally, I would make this cake with soft brown sugar. It adds a deeper caramel flavour and helps give the finished fruit cake its lovely dark colour.

I had already started getting everything ready when I discovered there wasn't any brown sugar left in the cupboard. Rather than abandon the baking altogether, I used raw sugar instead and it worked beautifully.

So while 150g soft brown sugar is my first choice, you can substitute the same quantity of raw sugar if that's what you have at home. White sugar will work too, although the finished cake may be slightly lighter in both colour and flavour.

Sometimes the best home baking is simply about making do with what's already in the pantry.

Easy Boiled Fruit Cake Recipe

Prep time: Approximately 20 minutes, plus cooling

Bake time: Approximately 1¼–1½ hours

Makes: 1 cake

Ingredients

• 500g mixed dried fruit

• 250ml water

• 125g butter

• 150g soft brown sugar (or 150g raw sugar)

• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Pinch of salt

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 250g self-raising flour

A Note About the Cake Tin

I'm not particularly precious about the tin I use for this cake, usually it's whichever suitable one I can find first.

A medium-sized, reasonably deep cake tin works well. Just keep in mind that a wider tin will give you a shallower cake and may cook a little faster, while a narrower, deeper tin may need a little longer.

It's a forgiving sort of cake, so use what you have and keep an eye on it towards the end of the baking time.

Method

• Prepare the tin and oven: Preheat the oven to 150°C fan bake (170°C conventional). Grease and line your cake tin with baking paper.

• Boil the fruit mixture: Place the mixed dried fruit, water, butter, sugar, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt into a large saucepan.

• Simmer: Bring the mixture gently to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for approximately 10 minutes.

• Allow it to cool: Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave the fruit mixture to cool for around 30 to 60 minutes, or until it is only slightly warm. Don't add the eggs while the mixture is still hot.

• Add the eggs: Stir the lightly beaten eggs through the cooled fruit mixture until well combined.

• Add the flour: Fold through the self-raising flour until there are no dry patches remaining. Avoid overmixing.

• Bake: Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 1¼ to 1½ hours, checking the cake from around the 1¼-hour mark. It's ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

• Because the exact baking time will vary depending on the size and depth of your tin, use the skewer rather than the clock as your final guide. If the top is becoming too dark before the centre is cooked, loosely cover it with foil for the remainder of the baking time.

• Cool: Leave the cake in its tin for around 15–20 minutes before carefully transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

It's Even Better the Next Day

You can slice into your boiled fruit cake once it has completely cooled, but if you can resist, wrap it and leave it until the following day.

As the cake rests, the moisture settles through it and the fruit and spice flavours develop. It's one of those cakes that somehow becomes even better after sitting overnight.

Serve it just as it is, or spread a slice with a little butter alongside a hot cup of tea.

How to Store Boiled Fruit Cake

Once completely cool, wrap the cake well and store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

For longer storage, cut the cake into individual slices and freeze them in an airtight container or freezer bag. The slices can then be taken out as needed, very handy for lunchboxes or an afternoon cup of tea.

Simple Baking for a Slow Weekend

One of the things I love most about recipes like this is that they're uncomplicated. There's no elaborate decorating, unusual ingredients or need for everything to look perfect.

It's simply a good, traditional fruit cake made from everyday ingredients, the sort of recipe that's worth keeping and making again.

And if you happen to open the cupboard halfway through and discover you've run out of brown sugar?

Raw sugar will do just fine.