This delicious light Christmas or New Year fruit cake is made with almonds and figs soaked in a cheeky dram or three of whisky. It can be baked a few days before needed or right at the last minute.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time50 minutesmins
Soaking Time8 hourshrs
Total Time1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Course: Afternoon Tea
Cuisine: British
Keyword: almonds, cake, Christmas, figs, New Year, whisky
Soak the figs with the whisky in a covered bowl overnight - even a couple of hours will help.
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, alternating with a spoonful of the flour if necessary.
Sift in the flour, almonds, baking powder, bicarb and spices. Stir until just combined.
Grate in the orange zest and stir in together with the orange juice.
Add the soaked figs and stir until just combined.
Oil a large bundt type mould or tin, then place a few almonds on the base. When turned out, these will be on the top of the cake. Spoon the batter on top.
Bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 45 minutes or until the cake is well risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Mix the icing sugar with the remaining whisky and just enough water to make a slightly runny icing. Drizle this over the cooled cake.
Add sprinkles as desired.
Notes
For best results, overnight soaking is needed.Bake in a deep 20 cm (8") tin instead of a bundt type mould, but you'll need to add 10-15 minutes to the baking time.You can easily hive off 6 tbsp of mixture and bake them in muffin tins to create 6 mini Christmas cakes.If you make the cake in advance, wrap it in greaseproof paper un-iced and store in an airtight container. Decorate just before you need it.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.