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. 

Angel Snow Globe Cake with Brandy Butter Frosting

One of my favourite parts about Christmas, is putting up the Christmas tree. While the rest of my family seems to be totally over the novelty, my sister and I still keep up the tradition. Our tree isn't just any old plastic jobby though, since my parents live on a farm, we make a mission into the pine forest to pick the perfect tree - which often involves heated debates on what exactly the 'perfect' tree is, but always involves us bringing home one that is WAY too big (hey, they look a lot smaller in a forest, okay!).    I always end up covered in tree gum, my mom always moans about the pine needles that fall everywhere, finding a pot big enough to put the darn thing in is impossible and of course, by the time you string the fairy lights up, you realise that in the past year they've stopped working. But all of that is completely forgotten when my favourite moment arrives and I get to climb up on a ladder and put the angel right on the tippy top of the tree. 

Recipe and Image Originally Created for Food & Home Entertaining Magazine

 So, if an angel can make a plain old tree special, just imagine what it can do on top of a cake! I decided to appropriately put this angel on top of a spiced angel food cake, which is really light, airy and not very sweet - basically the opposite of traditional fruit cake - but of course, this idea would look equally as gorgeous on whatever cake you decide to serve this year. Just make sure that when you serve it, you dust the snow globe with icing sugar at the table - then just wait for everyone to go 'oooooooh!'

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without surprises so I stuffed some pretty gold-wrapped chocolate balls in the middle (come on, I had to find a way of incorporating chocolate somehow!) so that when you slice the cake open, they tumble out and your guests are wow'ed again and go 'aaaaaaaah!'

Angel Snow Globe Cake with Brandy Butter Frosting

Serves 8-10 

ANGEL CAKE

12 egg whites, at room temperature

1 tsp cream of tartar

275g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g cake flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp mixed spice

BRANDY BUTTER ICING

170g butter, softened

255g Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted plus extra for dusting

4 tbsp brandy

Gold-wrapped chocolate balls or other sweets, for filling

Angel and glass dome, to decorate

Chiffon cake tin

Preheat the oven to 180C. Do not grease or line the chiffon cake tin - this helps the cake stay light and fluffy (I promise the cake won't stick!)

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in an electric mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. Gradually add half of the sugar and all the vanilla and whisk until glossy and thick. Sift together the flour, spices and remaining sugar twice and then gently fold through. Spoon into the ungreased chiffon cake tin and smooth the top with a palette knife. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake comes away from the sides and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn the cake upside down onto a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the tin and set aside.

Make the frosting by whipping the butter, icing sugar and brandy together until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake, place it on a cake stand then fill the middle with the chocolate balls or sweets. Frost the top with the brandy butter icing then dust liberally with icing sugar. Place an angel decoration in the centre and cover with a glass dome.

TIP: You're wondering about the dome though, aren't you? They are so easy to find! Most decor shops or florists have them (the one's with the hole in the front which you can hang up are perfect for placing over the angel!). But if you have a beautiful glass dome, or an upturned round tumbler it will have the same effect. 

Gingerbread macaron Christmas tree decorations

Why buy Christmas tree ornaments when you can make them yourself, and then eat them?! This was the very epiphany I had last week when after moving into a new house I suddenly realised I had nothing to decorate a tree with (in my spring-cleaning chuck-everything-away state they were tossed in the bin). But if you're a baker, who needs glass/plastic baubles when you can make your own which coincidentally look and ARE good enough to eat. My infatuation with macarons continues this year (I tried to convince you all last year to give them a bash with this Christmas mince pie macaron version) with my spiced gingerbread macaron - which I might add, if Christmas had a taste, would taste like this! And with the beautiful edible copper, gold and silver dusts and glitter you can buy these days, it's super easy to add sparkle to your tree. Hang them up and after Christmas dinner, when the family asks where's dessert? Channel your inner Heston Blumenthal and just point to the tree!

I know macarons are daunting but I've tested this recipe so many times I can recite the quantities and it works every time. My five crucial points to success are:

1. Grind and sift the almonds and icing sugar thoroughly

2. Beat the egg whites until very stiff - they should form very stiff peaks. 

3. Fold until the mixture looks like lava - it should ooze when dropped from your spoon. 

4. Check your oven temperature! 

5. Bake on the lower third rack of your oven. 

Gingerbread macaron Christmas tree trinkets

Makes about 30

120g ground almonds
200g icing sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

100g egg whites (about 3 large eggs)

1/4tsp cream of tartar

35g castor sugar

Spiced white chocolate ganache

110ml cream

peel of 1 orange

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

250g good-quality white chocolate, chopped

Edible copper or gold dust and glitter, for dusting

Line 2-3 baking sheets with good-quality baking paper or even better, silicone sheets. Using a tot glass, trace circles onto the baking paper then flip it over – you’ll need these as a sizing guide (unless your piping skills are of Martha Stewart quality!)

Blend the almonds, icing sugar and spices together until fine. Sift the mixture to remove any clumps then blend any leftover mixture and sift again until nothing remains. 

Begin beating the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Once the egg whites are very foamy and white, begin sprinkling in the sugar as you beat. Increase the speed to medium, if necessary, and beat the meringue to very stiff glossy peaks. The meringue should be very firm.

Add about 1/4 of the almond/sugar mixture and fold until no streaks remain. Continue to add the almond mixture in quarters, folding until incorporated. The mixture should be a lava consistency so when dropped, it should start spreading and oozing. 

Spoon the batter into a piping bag and pipe rows of batter onto the baking sheets using the circles as a guide, giving them enough space to spread. Tap the pan on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and quickly pop them with a toothpick if necessary. 
Allow the cookies to rest on a level surface for 30-60 minutes until they are no longer tacky to a light touch. This is a very important step so don't be tempted to be impatient!
While they rest, place an oven rack in the lower 3rd of your oven and preheat to 150C (conventional oven, if fan-forced, reduce by 20C). Check your oven isn't too hot or too cold by using an oven or sugar thermometer.
Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes. They’re ready when you lightly touch them and they no longer have any ‘give’.

Make the ganache by heating the cream and orange peel together until just simmering. Set aside for 1 hour to infuse before heating again and pouring over the white chocolate. Stir until melted then mix in the spices and allow to set until spreadable.

Sandwich the macarons together with the ganache. Using a clean soft paint brush, coat the macarons with edible copper or gold dust. 

TIP To turn the macarons into tree decorations, insert a long piece of wire with a hook at the top into the macarons while sandwiching them. Allow to set before hanging them up with ribbon or thread.  

Mini hot cross bun doughnuts

Deep-fried hot cross buns, people. Easter treats just don't get any better than this! Wait, maybe they do, 'cos I have some fabulous Easter recipes coming up in the next week so hang onto your sweet tooth! 

Sometimes people ask me how I think of deep-frying a hot cross bun. And the answer is that I dream about food at night. Not in that 'swimming in melted chocolate' kind of way (although isn't that what we'd all like!) but more in a 'wake up in the middle of the night with a recipe idea' kind of way. Which makes me pretty food-obsessed but it's where I get my best ideas. Like deep-frying hot cross buns, or making millionaire shortbread into a cake or giving sweetie pies a red velvet twist. Let's be honest, it's a little weird (or a lot weird, depending on your weird-o-meter), but we all have our quirks! Mine just happens to result in yummy things!

Photograph by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

Mini hot cross bun doughnuts

Makes 24

60g butter or margarine

420g cake flour

1 tsp salt

50ml sugar

1 tsp mixed spices

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed peel (optional)

10g Instant dry yeast

1 egg, beaten

200ml warm water

½ cup raisins (or chocolate chips)

Crosses

¼ cup flour

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp water

Oil, for deep-frying

Castor sugar, to dust

Rub the butter into the flour and mix in salt, sugar, spices and mixed peel, if using. Add the yeast and mix. Beat the egg and warm water together and add to the dough. Mix to form a soft dough then knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Divide into 24 pieces and roll into balls. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size. Mix the flour, oil and water together and place in a piping bag. Pipe crosses onto the buns. Heat a large pot of oil to 180C and fry the doughnuts, in batches until golden and puffed. Remove from oil and immediately dust in castor sugar.

Hot cross bun macarons

I absolutely love baking. I love how it calms my mind after a stressful day - the precision of the measuring and technique distracts me from all the worries and life's to-do lists. In the moment, it's just you and the recipe and the wooden spoon. One of my favourite things to do lately when baking, is it create hybrid desserts. It sounds sciency, but it's basically 'smooshing' two recipes together to create one super dessert. In the big food world, they call these 'Double Desserts' and I have written about them before. What's better than one dessert? Well, two. Duh. There is no logic in the world, that could find fault in that conclusion. 

Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that my favourite holiday is Easter. Chocolate AND fluffy bunnies? Who doesn't like chocolate and bunnies! But I also love hot cross buns and even though we get them all year round, I flat out refuse to eat them at any other time, except the month leading up to Easter. Toasted with oozy melty butter, thanks. This got me to thinking what else I could infuse with delicious hot cross bun flavour. Last year I did a 'Hot cross bun sponge' with buttercream frosting and those addictive mini speckled eggs. So this year, I tackled the hot cross bun macaron. 

If you have ever made macarons you will understand the analogy that making them is not unlike experiencing a great deal of pain.  A little like child birth I would imagine. Afterwards you never seem to remember how unpleasant the experience really was. This is my relationship with macarons. So when I decided to concoct these, I was excited - and obviously delusional. Humming away to myself I measured out all the ingredients and got to work. Then it started; I remembered the dozens of blogs and articles I'd read as well as the comments made by fellow chefs about these little monsters and how tricky they are to get right. Not to mention how many burst or flat macarons had emerged from my own oven during my numerous recipe attempts! I was promised that this was The One; the best macaron recipe. So my optimism won - this time. I remember my grandmother always used to say a little prayer when she slid something into her oven and I used to think it completely silly until of course it came time to put my macarons in the oven. Yes, I was praying for these macarons. They not only had me praying, they had me sitting on the floor in front of my oven embroiled in a staring match with them, to make sure they rose perfectly. So not only were they making me religious, now the macarons were making me down right crazy. 

Having lost years of my life during the baking process, they emerged from my oven perfectly. This recipe really makes the perfect macaron so do give it a try - despite me taking years off my life with the amount of stressing, it's very hard to flop. But just incase, say a little prayer as you put them in your oven!

Photography and styling by Katelyn Williams

Hot cross bun macarons
Makes 50

 
120g ground almonds
200g icing sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

100g egg whites (about 3 large eggs)

1/4tsp cream of tartar
35g white sugar

Orange white chocolate ganache

100ml cream
1 tbsp Stork Bake

peel of 1 orange

250g white chocolate, chopped

Line 2-3 baking sheets with baking paper.

Sift together the ground almonds and icing sugar to remove any clumps. Blend any leftover mixture then sift again until nothing remains. Stir in the spices.
Begin beating the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Once the egg whites are very foamy, begin sprinkling in the sugar as you beat. Increase the speed to medium, if necessary, and beat the meringue to stiff glossy peaks.

Add about 1/4 of the almond/sugar mixture and fold until no streaks remain. Continue to add the almond mixture in quarters, folding until incorporated.
Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle and pipe rows of batter onto the baking sheets, giving them space to spread. Tap the pan on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and quickly pop them with a toothpick.

Allow the cookies to rest on a level surface for 30-60 minutes until they are no longer tacky to a light touch.
While they rest, place an oven rack in the lower 3rd of your oven and preheat to 150C.
Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes.

Make the ganache by heating the cream, Stork Bake and orange peel together until just simmering. Set aside for 1 hour to infuse before heating again and pouring over the white chocolate. Stir until melted then allow to set until spreadable.

Sandwich the macarons together with the ganache. 

Photography and styling by Katelyn Williams