5 Ingredient Christmas Fruit Cake with Gingerbread Houses

Is it a gingerbread house? Or a Christmas cake? Well, this is what happens when a mommy fruit cake and a daddy gingerbread house love each other VERY much. It's such a fun way to decorate a fruit cake and even better, there is not a single piece of that horrid white fondant or persipan icing to be seen! 

First up, the fruit cake. Great Aunt May strikes again with one of her famous recipes and this one is her 'never-fail' fruitcake. What I love most about it, is that it only has 5 ingredients, but let's be honest, I had you at 'never fail' right?! Because it only has 5 ingredients, they have to be seriously good ingredients and trust me, you do not want to switch out the Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar for anything other than the real deal 'cos it elevates the humble fruit cake to a point where I want to eat the entire thing. It adds such a gorgeous dark, rich, molasses flavour that you just can't replicate. 

The next part: the gingerbread houses. How cute are they? Like a little gingerbread village! You can go totally crazy with decorating them or even better, give the already-baked cookies to your kids, let them make their own houses using sweets and sprinkles and then just stick them around your cake!  This cake is such a show-stopper that you could put it on the table as a decoration that is good enough to eat. And speaking of eating, for those of you worried about your waistlines this festive season, you needn't worry about this cake, it has so much dried fruit in it, one slice is basically one of your five-a-day! 

Never-Fail 5 Ingredient Fruit Cake

(Great Aunt May's recipe)

Makes 1 x 24cm cake

3 cups (500g) mixed dried fruit

1 cup (175g) Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

125g butter

2 cups self-raising flour

1 egg

Grease and double-line a 24cm-cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Placed dried fruit, sugar and 1 ½ cups water in a saucepan with the butter and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Stir in the flour and egg and mix well.

Pour into a double-lined greased 24cm cake tin and bake for 1 ½ - 2 hours on the lowest oven shelf until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. 

VARIATIONS

This is the fun part where you can tailor the recipe to suit whatever you fancy!

Spices and Flavourings: Mixed spice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove - add as much as you like (about 3 tsp in total should do it)

Nuts: Subsitute some of the dried fruit for hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, pecans or walnuts

Fruit: Orange or lemon zest, chopped candied fruit or cherries - just make sure to remove a portion of the mixed dried fruit and replace it with the same amount. 

Spiced Ginger Biscuit Houses

Makes 24 

100g cake flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

50g Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

1 tbsp whole milk

75g butter

2 tbsp candied peel, finely chopped or Christmas fruit mince

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Mix together the dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients and combine to form a dough (you can do this in a stand mixer using the dough or paddle attachment). 

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/2 cm thick. 

Cut out house shapes using a sharp knife then place on a baking tray. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely before icing. 

Royal Icing

1 egg white, beaten

2 cups Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted

squeeze of lemon juice

To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white gently then add the icing sugar until a stiff paste forms. Add the lemon juice and stir before placing in a piping bag.

Pipe the frosting onto the biscuits in patterns (you can make more colourful houses by using sweets and sprinkles) and allow to dry thoroughly. Then use spread the remaining royal icing around the outside of the cake and stick the houses in place. Dust with extra icing sugar to serve. 

 Disclaimer: This post has been created in collaboration with Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour!  They're available from Spar, Checkers and Pick 'n Pay stores. 

Chocolate Marshmallow Log

This is an ode to the fabulosity that is the Chocolate Log; that delicious wafer-marshmallow-chocolate bar that is so deeply intrenched into each of our childhood’s. Those not from here, they just don’t get it. They don’t understand the utter joy in biting into a super-fresh chocolate log (you know the one’s when the wafer is still crispy?) or digging out the filling with your finger before eating the chocolate coating. And of course, there’s licking the squished marshmallow off the wrapper (and hoping no one will see and judge you for it). I've also just discovered that the serious chocolate log connoisseurs out there actually freeze the bar first, taking the squishy marshmallow to even gooier heights!

 This cake is by no means a replacement for the real thing, but it is almost as delicious! The gooey marshmallow filling is there (I’ve toasted it for added oomph), so is the chocolate coating - and the wafers - all wrapped up in a flourless light-as-air chocolate swiss roll.

If making your own marshmallow is too much effort, simply melt store-bought white marshmallows with a little water then spread that over. I won’t tell if you don’t. 

Chocolate Marshmallow Log

Serves 8-10

Chocolate log:

6 eggs (separated)

150g castor sugar

50g cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Marshmallow filling:

4 egg whites

1 cup (250ml) castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate glaze:

55g dark or milk chocolate

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

2 tbsp (30ml) golden syrup or honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate wafer biscuits, to garnish 

To make the Swiss roll: Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. 
In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until thick and stiff, then slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of castor sugar. 
In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining castor sugar until the mixture is very thick and pale (about 10 minutes). Fold in the vanilla and sifted cocoa powder.
Lightly whisk 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mix to lighten it, then fold the remaining egg whites in, taking care to knock as little air out as possible. 
Pour the cake batter into the lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until springy to the touch. 

While the sponge is baking, prepare the marshmallow frosting. Place the egg whites in a large glass or metal bowl and set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Using a hand beater, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks, then slowly start sprinkling in the sugar. 
Whisk the meringue until it is warm to the touch, then remove from the heat, add the vanilla and beat until cool. 
Remove the cake from the oven ad allow it to cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment which has been dusted in cocoa powder.

Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl, microwave until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. Cool to room temperature before drizzling over the log. Top the chocolate log with remaining marshmallow frosting and sprinkle with chopped up wafers or chocolate wafer bars. 

To assemble, place the cake with the short side closest to you, then spread with the marshmallow, leaving a border at the end furthest from you. 
If you want, you can toast the marshmallow using a blow torch (or place under a very hot grill) until golden brown. 
Roll the cake up tightly, trim off the ends if necessary and dust with cocoa powder. 

Chocolate peppermint crisp fridge cake

This no-bake 5-ingredient recipe’s deliciousness revolves around three quintessential South African ingredients – sweetened condensed milk, peppermint crisp bars (can be substituted with any peppermint or mint-flavoured chocolate or sweets) and ‘Eet sum mores’ which are delicious, buttery shortbread biscuits. Of course, these yummy ingredients are bound together with lots of melted chocolate so if you haven’t realized it by now, your diet is pretty much destroyed. 

The great thing about this recipe is that it’s idiot-proof and even better is that you can use just about anything in it – nuts, biscuits, dried fruit, sweets, marshmallows, cherries, breakfast cereal, your favourite chocolate bars – have I left anything out?! ;)

When I created this recipe last year for a quick segment on Expresso, I had no idea just how popular it would be. I put it up on Facebook as I didn’t think it was worth a full blog post and then forgot about it pretty quickly. Except that now, it has been shared over 18 000 times (and so I'm eating my words... and the cake!)

Chocolate peppermint crisp fridge cake

Serves 8-10

100g butter

300g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

½ tin sweetened condensed milk (eat the rest of the tin with a spoon)

200g shortbread biscuits (Eet sum mores)

160g peppermint crisp bars, chopped (I also used some mint aero)

80g mini marshmallows (optional)

Line a standard loaf tin or baking tray with a sheet of baking paper and set aside.

Place the butter, chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on a medium to low heat until smooth. 

In a separate bowl, break the biscuits into pieces and combine with the peppermint crisp chunks and marshmallows (or whatever other ingredients you're using).

Combine the cooled melted chocolate mixture with the biscuit mixture and stir until combined.

Pour into the lined loaf tin and place in the fridge until completely set.

Unmould and cut into slices.

SOMETHING ELSE YOU MAY LIKE:
Caramel peppermint crisp cake
Peppermint crisp milkshakes
Peppermint crisp ice cream sandwiches

OR HOW ABOUT MORE 5-INGREDIENT RECIPES?
Chocolate macaroon cake with raspberries
Nutty chocolate magic bars

Nutty chocolate magic bars

Idiot-proof doesn't come close to describing these bars. I mean, you don't even need a bowl to make them! It's a simple case of layering 5 ingredients and banging the tray in the oven. No stirring, no mixing, and no effort. But I don't promise that waiting for them to bake won't take effort because it will. It will in fact be torture. Now I hear you asking, 'But Kate, why are they magic?!' Well, because you just layer the ingredients in the baking tin, and while they are in the oven, they magically split into a crumbly biscuit layer, a sticky caramelised toffee layer and a nutty, chocolatey layer on top. 

What I love the most about these magic bars, besides the fact that they're ridiculously easy and decadent, is that they're just as versatile. Don't like coconut? Swop it out for oats, or puffed rice or granola. Add more nuts, take out the chocolate, sprinkle in smarties or chocolate malty balls, the sky is the limit!

Magic 5 ingredient chocolate bars

No mixing, no washing up, simply layer the ingredients in a baking pan and the bars magically come together during baking.

(makes 24)

125g butter or margarine, melted

150g chocolate or digestive biscuits, crushed

1 tin (395g) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

2 ½ cups chopped nuts, coconut or oats (or a combination of all)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20 x 20cm non-stick baking pan.

Pour the melted butter into the tray and sprinkle the biscuit crumbs over evenly.

Pour the condensed milk over. Layer the remaining ingredients on top one at a time and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light brown. Loosen from the sides while still warm and cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.