Christmas and New Year Cheer - Brandy Orange Fruit Cake

26 December 2010

I really could not take my mind off it when I saw Wendy's Grand Marnier Orange Fruit Cake. I wanted to duplicate what she did because the photos on her blog was simply too beautiful.

But as I'm no liquor person, all I had in my house was brandy. I actually have not even heard of Grand Marnier before. So I just simply substituted it with brandy because I did not want to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier just for this cake.

Making this cake need some preparation. First of all, you need to combine all the fruits (except those coloured cherries) and mix it in the liquor and let it soak in the fridge overnight.
Then the next day when you are making the cake, mix it into the batter. And once the cake is cooled, wrap it with plastic cling wrap and cure it for a week to lend the flavours blend and meld together.

See, it needs some time and patience to get this cake done. Actually i hate making bakes that need waiting time, coz usually I can't wait to sink my teeth into my bakes. But let me tell you this, it is all worth it!

The texture is kinda light and not the heavy types (which is what I like!) and it is so moist and soft. Just like a nice butter cake with mix fruits and liquor infused in it.
After the first cake, I was so impressed with the results that I made another batch of it!

I also like the fact that she uses half liquor and half orange juice for the liquid ingredient because I do not fancy a cake with too much liquor. And kids can eat them too because the liquor taste is mild and yet you could feel its presence in it.

The first batch I could not get my hands on the green cherries, so I had no choice but to omit that. But for my second batch, I managed to find some and it makes my fruit cake looks so colourful.

without green cherries

with green cherries

So I decided to be as generous as Wendy and wrap it up like she did and give away to relatives and friends as Christmas and New Year gifts.

Don't they look pretty and festive all wrapped up using red and green paper ribbons?

This is the end results of one cake. Half of it cut into pieces for my family and I to enjoy, and the other half portion wrapped up nicely to be given away.
It's actually very much nice and fun to be able to give and put a smile onto people's face.

There are twelve days to Christmas, right? So it is still not too late to wish all of u a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

...and thanks Wendy for this fabulous recipe! :)

Recipe: Brandy Orange Fruit Cake (very largely adapted from Table For 2)

150gm cherries (red and green), coarsely chopped
100gm currants
100gm golden raisins
100gm black raisins
100ml fresh orange juice
100ml Brandy
Zest from the oranges that you juiced from

Combine everything except the cherries (I was worried that soaking in alcohol might release the colours) and cover. Let it soak overnight in the fridge. The next day, combine with coarsely chopped cherries while you soften the butter.

250gm butter
150gm sugar
4 eggs
225gm all purpose flour
100ml Brandy

1. Preheat oven to 130/150C. Line a 8 inch square pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Put in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until no clumps are seen.
5. Fold soaked fruits and all the remaining liquid into the batter.
6. Pour batter into pan, level and bake for 1.5hours.
7. Remove cake from oven and immediately drizzle Brandy over hot cake. Pull down the side liners. Let it the cake air and when cake has totally cooled, wrap and keep for a week before comsuming.

(I kept the cake wrapped at room temperature of 29-35C, and the cake looks very good with no mould and fungus due to the presence of liquor.)