Okay, so I’ve been seeing these gorgeous Victorian fruit cake tortes all over my Pinterest, and I just had to try making one. I mean, they look so fancy and complicated, but I figured, how hard could it really be? (Spoiler alert: harder than I thought, but still totally doable!).
Getting Started
First things first, I needed a recipe.I wanted that classic, dense, fruit-packed kind of * that, found a recipe.
Then came the fun part – gathering all the ingredients! I felt like I was raiding a medieval pantry or something. I grabbed:
- Dried fruits (raisins, currants, cherries, apricots – the whole gang!)
- Candied citrus peel (because why not?)
- A mountain of butter and sugar
- Eggs, flour, spices (like cinnamon and nutmeg, to make it extra cozy)
- Some nuts, ground almonds
- Brandy(Of course)
The Baking Process
I soaked the dried fruits in brandy overnight. That plumped them up nicely and added a nice little * next day, I creamed together the butter and sugar until it was all light and fluffy, like a cloud. Then I beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure everything was nicely mixed.
Next, I folded in the dry ingredients – flour, spices, and ground *, this is where it got a little tricky. The batter was thick. Like, really thick. I almost thought I’d messed something up, but I powered through. I mixed in the boozy fruit and that candied peel, making sure it was all evenly distributed. I don’t want any fruit-less bites!
I greased and lined a springform cake tin (because I learned my lesson about cakes sticking to pans the hard way), and poured in the * into the oven it went! I baked the cake for 5 hours, and it’s very long, but a low temperature is essential.
The Decorating
Once the cake was completely cool, I made this simple glaze. I just whisked together some apricot jam and a bit of water, then brushed it all over the top of the cake. This gives it a nice shine and helps the fruit stick.
Now for the fun part – arranging the fruit! I used a mix of glacé cherries, candied citrus peel, and some blanched almonds. I started with a ring of cherries around the edge, then filled in the center with a pretty pattern.I added a few extra pieces of candied peel for some extra sparkle.
The Result
Honestly, it turned out way better than I expected! It looked really * most importantly, it tasted amazing! All those boozy fruits and spices, the dense cake,it was just perfect.I think this Victorian fruit cake torte is definitely going to be a new holiday tradition for me.
