Tropical Fruitcake

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I realise it is a little late (or very early) to be posting a holiday fruitcake recipe, but I wanted to be sure it turned out OK before I shared the recipe. It was delicious!

This cake features tropical dried fruits, coconut and spiced rum. There's not a glace cherry in sight! It is very dense and moist and contains four times as much fruit as flour. I allowed the cake to mature for six weeks in the fridge, but I think it would be fine without the extra storage. Making it ahead does save you from a smidgen of holiday stress, though.

Tropical Fruitcake
makes 1 cake

2 cups mixed dried fruit (pineapple, papaya, mango, raisins, currents, cranberries, etc)
1/2 cup grated dried coconut
1/2 cup spiced rum (enough to cover fruit)

Combine the fruits and coconut, making sure to separate any stuck-together bits of fruit. Pour in the spiced rum. Allow to sit at room temperature overnight. Drain the excess liquid before adding to the cake.

75g butter
1/4 c light brown sugar
1 tsp molasses
2 eggs
1/2 orange rind, grated
scant 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp ginger
1 Tbsp spiced rum

Line the bottom and 5cm up the sides of a loaf pan with two layers of baking paper. Heat the oven to 140 C.

Cream the butter, sugar and molasses. Add the eggs (if the mixture separates a little, don't panic). Stir in the orange peel, drained fruit and coconut. Mix in the flour and spices. Spoon into the loaf pan and spread evenly.

Bake for about 90 minutes to 2 hours. The cake should be slightly under-baked and very moist, but not wiggly. You may need to cover the pan with foil to keep the cake from browning too much. You can add a small pan of boiling water to the oven to help keep the cake moist, especially if you have a convection oven.

Remove from the oven and brush with 1 Tbsp of spiced rum. Allow to cool, then remove from pan. Peel off the outer layer of baking paper. Wrap the cake in plastic and then in foil and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat.

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