Festive English Christmas Fruitcake Adventure

Christmas Fruitcake 🍒

This year, for the first time in London, I'm preparing an English Christmas fruitcake!

This traditional cake, made with berries and dried fruits, is typically prepared a month before the holiday and brushed with rum once a week until it's served.

I struggled to find candied lemon and orange peel here (which surprised me since it's an English cake) and decided to substitute with melon and ginger. Later, I discovered that the blend of candied lemon and orange is referred to as candied mixed peel here.

Interestingly, last year in Yerevan, I faced a similar challenge and ended up using peaches, pear, and plum instead. It turned out amazing!

I browsed various English recipes—everyone seems to have their own way of making it and chooses dried fruits based on their preferences.

I'm planning to make another cake next week using different fruits. We'll take it along to a holiday gathering or maybe I’ll try coating it in marzipan for the first time!

If you're thinking of making it, here’s the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

My main tip—don't worry about overbaking the cake. I don’t really trust the 1.5-2 hour baking time in recipes (they probably use professional ovens); I baked mine for a solid 3 hours.