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Easy Christmas Loaf Cake
5 from 18 votes

Easy Christmas Loaf Cake

This Christmas Loaf Cake features a rich mix of dried fruits, including glacé cherries and mixed peel, soaked in orange juice and sherry before being folded into a spiced cake batter. The mixture is baked in loaf tins, resulting in dense, fruit-filled cakes that are ideal for festive occasions. The cake includes warm spices like cinnamon and mixed spice to deepen the flavor, and can be decorated with marzipan and fondant icing for a traditional finish.

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 16 slices
Calories: 394 kcal
Course: Dessert, Snacks, Cake, Baked Goods
Cuisine: British

Ingredients

For the cake…
  • 500 g dried fruit mix ideally including mixed peel - see note, mixed
  • orange juice juice of 1 orange
  • 100 ml sherry or brandy / whisky / gin / rum - or use apple juice if you want this to be alcohol free
  • 100 ml water boiling
  • 150 g butter plus extra for greasing, softened
  • 150 g dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar, soft
  • 2 egg large
  • 150 g self-raising flour (US - self-rising flour)
  • 2 teaspoons mixed spice (or pumpkin spice)
  • 1 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 200 g glace cherries halved
To decorate…
  • 250 g marzipan (I prefer the paler ‘natural’ colour… but the bright yellow stuff works too!)
  • 250 g fondant icing white
  • icing sugar (US - confectioner's sugar) (for rolling out the marzipan and fondant icing)

Instructions

For the cake…
    Cup of Yum
  1. Place the dried fruit in a large saucepan. Squeeze over the juice of the orange and pour over the sherry and boiling water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. Leave to stand until needed.
  2. Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F. Line 2 x 1lb (450g) loaf tins with loaf tin liners.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar thoroughly.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture until smooth after each one.
  5. Gently fold in the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon until fully incorporated.
  6. Add the glacé cherries and the dried fruit, plus any remaining liquid from the saucepan. (There should be very little liquid left, as most of it will have soaked into the fruit or evaporated.) Stir gently until the fruit is evenly distributed.
  7. Tip the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tins and get them straight into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer, inserted into the middle of the cake, comes out clean. (I check every 5 minutes from 50 minutes. It usually takes 55 minutes in my oven.)
  8. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin (or until cool enough to handle without burning your hands!), then remove the cake from the tin and allow to fully cool on a wire cooling rack… The cake should take approximately 2 hours from the time it comes out of the oven to cool fully. Do not decorate until completely cool!
To decorate…
  1. Dust your worksurface with icing sugar. Take 200g of the marzipan and roll it so it is big enough to cut 2 rectangles out the same size as the top of the 2 cakes. Cut the 2 rectangles out, using the cake tin as a guide to help you get the right size.
  2. Brush the 2 loaf cakes with a very small amount of cold water. (This is to help the marzipan stick to the cake – but be very sparing, you don’t want to make the cakes wet!)
  3. Place 1 marzipan rectangle on top of 1 of the loaf cakes and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife. Repeat for the other loaf cake, so both cakes are covered with a single layer of marzipan.
  4. Roll out the white fondant icing so it is big enough to cut 2 rectangles out the same size as the top of the 2 cakes. Cut the 2 rectangles out, again using the cake tin as a guide to help you get the right size.
  5. Brush the marzipan layer with a very small amount of cold water.
  6. Place 1 fondant rectangle on top of the marzipan layer on 1 of the loaf cakes and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife. Repeat for the other loaf cake, so both cakes are covered with a single layer of marzipan, topped with a single layer of fondant icing.
  7. Roll out the remaining marzipan and cut out a variety of different sized stars. (Or whatever Christmas shapes you like!)
  8. Place these stars at random on top of the cakes, using a little cold water on the back of each star to stick them down.
  9. Your cakes are now ready to eat!

Notes

  • Use a mixed dried fruit blend with sultanas, raisins, currants, and candied peel for best results.
  • This recipe makes two 1lb loaf cakes; halve quantities if only one cake is desired.
  • The cake freezes well; keep only the cake frozen prior to decorating.

Nutrition Information

Calories 394kcal (20%) Carbohydrates 67g (22%) Protein 5g (10%) Fat 13g (20%) Saturated Fat 5g (25%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 5g (25%) Trans Fat 0.3g (15%) Cholesterol 41mg (14%) Sodium 77mg (3%) Potassium 296mg (6%) Fiber 4g (16%) Sugar 50g (100%) Vitamin A 289IU (6%) Vitamin C 5mg (6%) Calcium 74mg (7%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 16 slices

Amount Per Serving

Calories 394

% Daily Value*

Calories 394kcal 20%
Carbohydrates 67g 22%
Protein 5g 10%
Fat 13g 20%
Saturated Fat 5g 25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Monounsaturated Fat 5g 25%
Trans Fat 0.3g 15%
Cholesterol 41mg 14%
Sodium 77mg 3%
Potassium 296mg 6%
Fiber 4g 16%
Sugar 50g 100%
Vitamin A 289IU 6%
Vitamin C 5mg 6%
Calcium 74mg 7%
Iron 1mg 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.