Rich Fruit Cake Recipes for Various Sized Tins
This Rich Fruit Cake recipe can be used for Christmas, Birthday and even Wedding Cakes. If you do not have enough of one type of fruit, you can always make it up with another. Just remember to ensure that the total quantity of fruit matches that of the recipe.
Choose the table you are most happy with – metric or imperial.
If you are looking for a recipe for a larger cake please see 14″ Fruit Cake Recipes.
Fruit Cake Recipes
(Metric)
| Size of Cake in cm | Round 15Square 12.5 | Round 17.5Square 15 | Round 20Square 17.5 | Round 22.5Square 20 | Round 25Square 22.5 | Round 27.5Square 25 | Round 30Square 27.5 | Round 32.5Square 30 |
| Currants | 150g | 200g | 275g | 375g | 500g | 550g | 700g | 800g |
| Sultanas | 75g | 100g | 175g | 200g | 250g | 350g | 375g | 400g |
| Raisins | 40g | 50g | 75g | 100g | 125g | 150g | 175g | 225g |
| Glace Cherries (halved) | 40g | 50g | 75g | 100g | 125g | 150g | 175g | 225g |
| Mixed Peel | 40g | 50g | 75g | 100g | 125g | 150g | 175g | 225g |
| Flaked Almonds | 40g | 50g | 75g | 100g | 125g | 150g | 175g | 225g |
| Lemon Rind (grated – teaspoon) | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Plain Flour | 90g | 125g | 200g | 250g | 300g | 400g | 450g | 500g |
| Mixed Spice (teaspoon) | 0.75 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.75 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Ground Almonds | 25g | 25g | 50g | 50g | 75g | 75g | 100g | 100g |
| Butter (softened) | 75g | 100g | 175g | 225g | 275g | 325g | 400g | 450g |
| Soft Brown Sugar | 75g | 100g | 175g | 225g | 275g | 325g | 400g | 450g |
| Black Treacle (desert spoon) | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Eggs | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Fruit Cake Recipes
(Imperial)
| Size of Cake in inches | Round 6Square5 | Round 7Square 6 | Round 8Square 7 | Round 9Square 8 | Round 10Square 9 | Round 11Square 10 | Round 12Square 11 | Round 13Square 12 |
| Currants | 5 oz | 7 oz | 10 oz | 13 oz | 1 lb | 1 lb 2 oz | 1 lb 7 oz | 1 lb 12 oz |
| Sultanas | 3 oz | 4 oz | 6 oz | 7 oz | 9 oz | 12 oz | 14 oz | 1 lb |
| Raisins | 1.5 oz | 2 oz | 3 oz | 3.5 oz | 4.5 oz | 6 oz | 7 oz | 8 oz |
| Glace Cherries (halved) | 1.5 oz | 2 oz | 3 oz | 3.5 oz | 4.5 oz | 6 oz | 7 oz | 8 oz |
| Mixed Peel | 1.5 oz | 2 oz | 3 oz | 3.5 oz | 4.5 oz | 6 oz | 7 oz | 8 oz |
| Flaked Almonds | 1.5 oz | 2 oz | 3 oz | 3.5 oz | 4.5 oz | 6 oz | 7 oz | 8 oz |
| Lemon Rind (grated – teaspoon) | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Plain Flour | 3.5 oz | 5 oz | 7 oz | 9 oz | 11 oz | 14 oz | 1 lb | 1 lb 4 oz |
| Mixed Spice (teaspoon) | 0.75 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.75 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Ground Almonds | 1 oz | 1 oz | 2 oz | 2 oz | 2.5 oz | 3 oz | 3.5 oz | 4 oz |
| Butter (softened) | 3 oz | 4 oz | 6 oz | 8 oz | 9 oz | 12 oz | 14 oz | 1 lb |
| Soft Brown Sugar | 3 oz | 4 oz | 6 oz | 8 oz | 9 oz | 12 oz | 14 oz | 1 lb |
| Black Treacle (desert spoon) | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Eggs | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Method
Set oven to 160 deg C,325 deg F, Gas Mark 3
Cream butter, sugar, treacle and ground almonds together until light and creamy.
Add the egs one at a time, beating well.
Stir in the grated lemon rind.
Weigh the flour and stir in the mixed spice.
Weigh the fruit and nuts and mix into the spiced flour.
Add the flour and fruit mix to the mixture, folding in carefuly until well mixed. If mixutre is very stiff, add a little milk. The mixture should be of a dropping consistency (not sloppy).
Put mixture into cake tin and level top.
Cook for about one hour (for small cakes up to 8 inches (20 cm) and one and a half hours for the larger cakes at 160 deg C, 325 deg F, Gas Mark 3 then reduce to 150 deg C, 300 deg F, Gas Mark 2 until a skewar comes out clean.
Reduce the cooking temperature if the cake starts to rise.
I bake my cakes in an electric fan oven and therefore have converted my temperatures to the equivalent Gas Mark. One of the visitors to my site (Bernadette) has baked the 12″ and 10″ square cakes in a gas oven and contacted me to let me know her experience of cooking times. She advises that the 12″ would take approximately 5 hours in total and the 10″, 4 hours. She also lowered the temperature to Gas Mark 1. Many thanks Bernadette for your advice.
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Posted by: Sheila | 12-12-2009 | 11:12 PM
Posted in: Fruit Cake Recipes
this looks ok – i’ll give it a try
haven’t made the cake yet but this recipe looks pretty good, will let you know in two or three months.
Bernie
I have to make a 12″ square tier for a rich fruit wedding cake. I have never made anything above an 8″ square before (Christmas / Christening) so am quite nervous of tackling something so important and want to get it perfect. Have found it difficult to get 12″ receipies and your one looks very nice – could I modify my own favourite 8″ receipe to suit a 12″ square tin? and how could I do this.
At a quieter time, I will look forward to trying some of the other receipies in your portfolio as they look quite delicious.
Whilst it is possible to increase a recipe to make a larger cake it is not simply a matter of increasing each ingredient. Also there is a possibility that some recipes will not work in a larger format and not cook evenly or may even sink in the middle.
I have successfully made the 12” recipe on this site on numerous occasions and it is a really easy recipe to make. However if you wish to use your own, I would suggest that you compare your 8” recipe to mine. I assume that basically your recipe will be very similar with just a different combination of dried fruits, and possibly a different type of sugar and spices. As long as the total weight of dried fruit is the same you can use any combination you wish. Therefore I suggest you use my recipe for the weights and substitute your own favourite fruits, colour sugar etc.
When making such a large cake, be sure to wrap the outside of the tin with folded sheets of newspaper to prevent burning. Make sure the oven is not too hot and check the cake regularly, adjusting the temperature as necessary. You may also find it useful to buy a new washing up bowl to mix the cake in as I find it will not fit in any of my mixing bowls.
I am going to use this recipe to make a 12 inch wedding cake – my first time!! how long will the cake take when the oven temperature has been decreased ( a rough estimate will be helpfull) thankyou I will let you know the outcome
Hi, I am going to try your recipe for my daughters wedding cake. It looks super simple but I am a little worried about the time to cook the 12″ square size. 1- 2 hours does@nt seem very long as when I make my much smaller christmas cake it is in the oven for about 4 hours. Please can you give me some feed back as I don’t want to make a mess up of something so important. thanks a bundle in anticipation of some help.
@ bernadette
The one and a half hours relates to the 160 C temperature. After this reduce the temperature to 150 C until it is cooked ie a skewer comes out clean. It will take another hour to hour and a half. I usually find a 12″ will take about three hours to cook without drying it out.
@sharon
It will take approximately another one to one and a half hours at the reduced temperature. I usually allow three hours to bake a 12″ cake.
Hi, I am making a 14 inch fruit cake as the bottom tier for an 18th birthday party, but I cannot find a recipe for a 14inch square fruit cake anywhere!!! Please please could you help me as your recipe looks great, thanks, Gemma.
I have posted recipes for 14″ fruit cakes and will shortly along with the recipe and instructions for a 14″ chocolate sponge cake.
This looks the best recipe for a 12 inch cake. My son has asked me to do the bottom tier for his wedding next year. I have been baking Christmas cakes for years and get lovely comments on them,but they are only about 9 inch round. I am a bit nervous about baking such a large one, but looking at other recipes, this can be adapted to some extra ingredients that I will put in of my own. I will be baking my Christmas ones in the next week or so, and will try this one out when I buy the relevant cake tin.
Hi there
I am making a fruit cake for a wedding for friends of mine and will be using your 10″ receipe. how long do I bake it for and at which temperature as I am slightly confused as of how long to bake it for. I have a fan oven so how long do you state to bake it for at which temp and then after how long do I reduce the heat and how much longer do I continue to bake it for? I also want to add achocol?
I am going to be making the bottom tier 12in round for wedding cake. I am planning to use the friit cake recipe. I don’t want to use flaked almonds. Should it be ok just to leave them out. Also I would like to soak the friuts in brandy and add brandy to the cake once its cooked but it doesn’t mention this. Could you plesae help me adjust this. Thanks
@Caroline If you do not like flaked almonds, then you can leave them out but you need to add something in its place to make up the total amount of dry fruit/nuts. Just replace the almonds with sultanas, raisins or currents.
As for soaking the fruit in brandy, if you are making the cake two or three months in advance of the wedding, it is best not to soak the fruit. If the fruit is soaked and then the cake is ‘painted’ with brandy after cooking as well, it will become very soggy and ‘pudding’ like after maturing. Soaking the fruit is only necessary when you are making the cake last minute and want it to be as moist as possible without letting it mature.
The other thing to remember is that if the cake is too moist it will not cut into the small pieces required at a wedding, but will just break up on cutting.
@Emma Cook your 10″ cake in your fan oven at 160 deg C for one and a half hours and then reduce to 150 deg C until it is cooked. There are no precise cooking times as these vary depending of the temperature of the ingredients the size of the eggs etc. I recommend that you check the cake after an hour and reduce the temperature sooner if it starts to rise in the middle. It will take about another hour and a half once you have reduced the temperature. Again check after an hour. The cake will be golden brown and firm in the centre to the touch. If you are unhappy using a skewer to test if it is cooked. There is a lovely little device called a ‘cake tester’ which has a black end. You push the tester into the middle of the cake and the end turns bright red once it is cooked. It is available from http://www.lakeland.co.uk for £4.99. As regards adding alcohol, please see the comment above to Caroline.
Your recipe mentions plain flour but has no allowance for baking powder. Is this correct? I’d hate to ruin my fruit cake and have it come out completely flat!
@Chris – I know it sounds wrong, but you do not need self raising flour or baking powder. The eggs alone make these fruit cakes rise. Any kind of baking powder would make the cake rise too fast and crack or ‘peak’. I have found this out from experience.
As I too am about to make a large–12 inch square —fruit cake for my son’s wedding, I am grateful to you Sheila for putting up this very good recipe and very helpful tips and explanations.Thanks.
I have an electric fan oven and find it very very fast, so I usually bake rich christmas cakes by starting at 150 and lowering to 100 ( this is celsius ).
I am worried about the treacle in the recipe—I usually use the very dark muscovado sugar and I feel that treacle as well would be too intense a dark flavour. But I can’t think how best to substitute for treacle.Every recipe I find for a rich fruit cake seems to include treacle.
Maybe I should just go with your basic recipe and get the lighter brown sugar, and use that with the treacle
Si if anyone has any suggestions on this I’d be ratefyl.
@Geraldine It is quite acceptable to use treacle and the dark muscovado sugar and the flavour will not be too intense. However if you want a more subtle flavour and wish to use the dark sugar, then substituting golden syrup for the black treacle will solve the problem.
I am making a wedding cake for my niece at 12″ 9″ and 6″ but she wants the cake to be deep – approx 5inches. How do I calculate the ingredients and cooking time.
Your assistance much appreciated
Jane
@Jane. This is a difficult one to calculate. A 5″ deep cake is very deep, and would require very careful monitoring of the oven temperature to ensure it did not burn before it was cooked. Wrap tin in lots of newspaper (three sheets folded into three should do it). My advice would be not to try and calculate the volume, but to use the recipe from the next size up. For example for the 12″ use the 14″ recipe. One other query is that tiered cakes are usually two inches different and not three. Also with the additional depth which will increase with the board, icing and marzipan, you are looking at a very high three tier cake.
i’m making my brothers wedding cake , this is my first time its going to be a 14″ fruit cake and 4″ deep , i only have 3 weeks til the wedding ,is it too late to make a fruit cake and do i put the brandy on the cake once made xx
@amanda It is a little short notice but not too late. I would suggest that you soak the fruit in a mixture of orange juice and brandy overnight before making your cake. Drain the fruit well and then use as recipe states. When the cake is cool, brush over a solution of brandy and sweet sherry before wrapping well in greaseproof paper and sealing in a tin for two weeks. This will give you a week to decorate it. I do not normally recommend this method as the cake will be more crumbly when cutting into small slices, but it will taste delicious and I doubt if anyone will notice once they have tasted it.
thanks for that , my brother don’t want it to taste of too much alcohol , so with what your saying will that be ok and how much orange juice and brandy , and how much brandy and sweet sherry , thanks you been a great help xx
@amanda If your brother does not like the taste of alcohol you could always soak the fruit in tea (you can add a tablespoon of brandy if you wish). Make a pot of tea and pour into a bowl, add one tablespoon of brandy and mix in the dry fruit and leave it overnight. Pour the whole lot into a sieve the next day to drain before using the fruit. When the cake has been cooked and has gone cold, make a mixture of one part brandy to one part of sweet sherry. Brush this over the cake but do not soak it. How much you will need depends on the size of the cake. Two tablespoons of liquid will cover an 8 inch cake and I find that 3 tablespoons covers a 10 inch cake.
You will not be able to taste the alcohol just the richness of the fruit and other ingredients and it should be lovely and mellow.