Easy Marsala & Chocolate Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup JC's Dry Roasted Australian Almonds
- 100g JC's Natural Pistachio Kernels
- 750g JC's Berry Combo Mix chop any large pieces of fruit into smaller pieces i.e. raisins
- 1 cup Brown Sugar firmly packed
- 250g Butter unsalted or low sodium, chopped
- 1 cup Marsala Sherry or fruit juice can be used as substitute
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice
- 3 Eggs lightly whisked
- 1 1/2 cups Plain Flour
- 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 125g Dark Chocolate chopped
- Extra Marsala for drizzling
Instructions
- Place the nuts separately onto an oven tray and bake at 150°C FF for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Allow to cool then roughly chop the almonds. Reduce the oven temp to 140°C FF.
- In a medium saucepan, combine JC's Berry Combo Mix, sugar, butter, Marsala and spices. Stir over a medium heat until the butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat immediately and transfer into a large mixing bowl to cool.
- Whisk the eggs into the cooled mixture before adding the sifted dry ingredients, chocolate and chopped nuts. Mix until well combined.
- Spoon the mixture into a 22cm round cakepan that has been fully lined with 2 layers of baking paper, allowing the paper to come 4-5 cm above the top edge of the pan.
- Bake for 1 3/4 - 2 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Drizzle over some extra marsala then allow to cool in the pan wrapped in a large bath towel. Store in an airtight container until required.
Notes
NB: Sherry or fruit juice can be used as a substitute for the Marsala.