Excellent cake. Made three. Gave two away. Ate one. Need to make more!

This is the best christmas cake we ever had, we were able to store it until sprint:)

like delicius,thanx. yemekyapye

delicious... made it last night. there is definetly enough for more than one. my only mistake was not to use partchment paper because I didnt have any. Im new at the whole baking thing but it turn out perfect....Thank you!!

Now made this cake 5 times and the results have been very good. And I'm a novice cake-maker.

LOVE this cake! I suggest only a couple of modifications, but if you can't make the changes, make this cake anyway because it is a real crowd pleaser. First, use Demerara sugar instead of brown sugar if you can. It's usually found in regular grocery stores, next to the other sugars, and it doesn't cost much more. It's is a light brown sugar that provides a stickier texture and a really rich aroma-- perfect for this cake. Second, marinate the candied fruit in the brandy for as long as you can. You really want the fruit to be plump. Third, follow the directions for a long baking time in low heat. Don't try to speed things up by increasing the temperature (like I once did...)! Fourth, top with Royal Icing-- there are some very good recipes for it on this website. Royal Icing is a bit tricky to work with, but it's worth the effort!

I substituted a number of things - marg for the butter, powdered egg replacer for the 6 eggs, soy & rice flour for the wheat. I decided there was too much cloves so cut that down to 1/4 tsp, and doubled the cinnamon to 2 heaping teaspoons. I mixed 1/2 cup dark rum and 1/2 cup brandy and poured that over the fruit and let marinade for over 24 hours. I also substituted 1/2 cup orange juice with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice instead of the apple juice. I divided the recipe between two Teflon bunt pans. Convection baked at 275° for 2 1/4 hrs. Then I poured 1 cup of mixed rum & brandy over the cakes when cool. Was delicious! Falls apart with the flour substitute but sure tastes great.

I made this recipe about 6 weeks before christmas and then resisted eating it until then. This is truly the best Christmas cake ever! It is really rich and moist. It did make a lot and I had to put it in a 26cm or 10inch square tin which fit perfectly. We thought we would never get through it it was so huge but it was gone within a week or so. It was so delicious. As my husband is allergic to almonds I substituted brazil nuts which worked just as well. I let the cake cool in the tin with a teatowel over the top to keep the moisture in then when it was cool I basted it in brandy and wrapped up in greaseproof paper and tin foil. Also for all you Aussies, after hunting around shops looking for Molasses with no luck I did some research on the net and found out that what they call molasses in the US is what we call treacle over here - if they ask for blackstrap molasses then that is what we call molasses. Hope that helps when you find it hard to find molasses on the shelf in Aus. Will definately be making it again this year (and also planning on making smaller ones for gifts keeping the big for myself of course)- can't wait!

This recipe is excellent! I made this cake for a christmas present to my parents who are extremely hard to please food critics and they absolutely loved it, mum is usually very critical of everyones xmas cakes but this got the thumbs up! I did replace the raisins and currants with dried figs, peaches, pears and some glace ginger ...which made for a not so traditional but excellent, rich and exotic cake, really moist and yummy.

Did not rise properly, stayed raw in the middle maybe my mistake?? Help

Everyone loved this. My only change: soaked the fruit in rum, then drizzled about 1/3 c brandy over the cake just prior to storage. Stored for 2 weeks wrapped in waxed paper in a tin in my fruit cellar. This will change everyone's mind about the dreaded fruitcake.

The house smells great! I already had a piece right out of the oven and it's pretty good. But I had to modify a bit because I don't have access to molasses so I increase brown sugar and add maple syrup. Also don't have candied citrus so I used dry apricot instead. Next time I will add a bit more spice maybe additional half a teaspoon each at least to intensify the flavor. The recipe makes 2 loaves and a low 6 inch cake for me, with baking time only 60 minutes.

Just did this years cake, so can add more accurate detail. I still used the baking paper to extend the height of the cake. It took 3.15hrs in a fan forced oven. Also the height actually is 7cm (3inch) using a 20cm (8 inch)round springform pan. I did this last year and the result was fantastic. I used a round pan, so my cooking time was a lot longer. I just kept checking until it was done. Just saw comments about too much batter. As I used a round pan, I lined the pan with what we call non stick baking paper and extended it above the exisiting pan by approx 3cm. I was then able to use all the batter, hence having the longer cooking time. My cake was about 10cm tall and very heavy!!

Yummy!As my partner is not a fan of the glazed cherries I used dried cherries (pretty expensive, but worth it!)and it tastes lovely.I'm pouring 2tbsp of Brandy on each cake every 2 weeks.I don't think it needs any icing either as it's delicious as it is.Hope it lasts till xmas.Thanks Carol!

This cake is Wonderful! I have some friends who don't like fruit-cake but they liked this One. Thanks, Cheryl

Fantastic cake! I also got 2 cakes. I sprinkled more brandy on the baked cakes. Yummy!

I made this cake a couple weeks ago, I won't be trying it till xmas so I will update my review then. I left out the cinnamon and cloves and just used the allspice/mixed spice, my house smelt of mollases/treacle for days!!due to the 3/4 cup of it that went in, I have a funny feeling this will be way too strong a flavour and smell for me as all of the other recipes I have seen only call for a couple tablespoons of mollases!! but, I will let you know, I will obviously marzipan(almond paste/icing) and ice/frost the cake and decorate it, couple weeks before exmas I will skewer the cake in several places and poor over brandy and whisky (more for the flavour and kick rather than moistness) as I think this may be a moist cake anyway. I will report back after exmas or just after the first few comments on the cake. Hope it's good, it took 3hrs 35 mins to cook. UPDATE, after 2.5 weeks I took it out of the air tight container and unwraped it from the double layer of tin foil and layer of greaseproof and it smells gorgeous, no more mollases smell just a lovely traditional english christmas cake smell, almost like christmas pudding!! I skewered 5o times and poured over a tbls of each whisky and brandy.Update: Very moist but may add double the mixed spice next year. NOTE: this is for an 8" square cake if you use a round pan you must use a 9" one!! an 8" round fits exactly onto an 8" square one, so, you must allow for the corners (thats why a 9" round is needed)