There were only three criteria.
One, it had to be simple.
Two, it had to be fruity (and therefore moist).
And three, it also needed to taste great.
I'm not even sure how I came across the recipe for a 4 Ingredient Fruit Cake but it looked easy ... as well as intriguing. For those who may not have access to one of the ingredients, there is an even easier 3 Ingredient Fruit Cake which I suspect would yield similar results.
So what are the ingredients in this cake that makes it so easy and yet so special?
Flour: The recipe called for Self-Raising Flour. I rarely keep it in the pantry. Instead, I used plain flour and added 1 teaspoon baking powder to every one cup of flour used. [Ingredient tally: 5.]
Dried Fruit: I imagine when it says only 4 ingredients and lists 1 kg of mixed dried fruit, that it is referring to the prepackaged mixed dried fruit from the supermarket. I didn't have this and am not a fan of the fake cherries in the mix anyway, so I just made my own from a mix of currants (approx 350g), raisins and sultanas (approx 450g all up), and chopped prunes and dates (approx 100g of each). The second time I made the cake I used slightly different ratios and it turned out just as great. [By now I've increased it to a 10 ingredient recipe, but if I'd followed the recipe exactly it could still have been only 4 ingredients. And even at 10 ingredients it was still very simple.]
Milo: This is a chocolate-flavoured malted powder typically added to hot water or hot or cold milk which is popular in Australia (where it was developed) and New Zealand. If you can't obtain it, refer next ingredient.
Milk: I used almond milk but any kind of milk could be used. Chocolate milk can be substituted for the milk and Milo but it may not have the same malty flavour. (I haven't tried this version but it was another popular recipe that I found and all the other ingredients and steps were the same.)
Recipe for 3, 4 or 10 Ingredient Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 kg dried mixed fruit [or a mix of dried fruit such as currants, raisins, prunes, dates, sultanas]
- 35g (1/3 cup) Milo
- 600ml milk (or replace milk and Milo with 600ml chocolate milk)
- 300g (2 cups) SR Flour [or 2 cups plain flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder]
1. Place the fruit into a large mixing bowl.
2. Stir the Milo into the milk until dissolved. (Skip this step if using chocolate milk.)
3. Pour the milk over the fruit and stir several times. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours (or longer if you get busy and can't get to it at the 24-hour mark.)
4. Remove from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for half an hour. Meanwhile line base and sides of a 22cm round cake tin and preheat oven to 160 °C (320 °F).
5. Fold the flour into the fruit and mix until there are no more lumps of flour.
6. Transfer to tin and smooth the surface. Cook for two hours or until a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Cover with foil if the top starts to brown too quickly. [Note, oven times vary. The original recipe said to cook for 1-1/2 hours but I found the centre was still very much undercooked. Another recipe stated 2 hours. I ended up cooking mine for 2-1/2 hours even though my oven generally tends to be "hot". Your best indication as to whether the cake is cooked or not is the skewer test.]
7. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for at least another half hour. [I left mine in the oven overnight and had no difficulty removing it from the tin the next day.]
8. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from tin.
All that remains then is to see if you can refrain from "just trying" it and keeping it until Christmas. (Hence the reason I had to make a second one just for Christmas!)
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