Merry Christmas!! Fruit Cake in the House!

I have to admit...
I was never a big fan of fruit cake...

Most probably because my first encounter with fruit cake was not very pleasant. I vaguely remembered eating some fruit cake that my mom bought from neighborhood bakery. The fruit bits tasted so artificial and almost plastic-y. I have never touched a fruit cake since then..

Now that I started baking and chanced upon a  recipe that look easy enough, I thought it will be a good chance to change my perception of fruit cakes since I can control what to put into the fruit cake.

Recipe adapted from   Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

This cake is baked using my Toshiba Rice Cooker.

Ingredients:

Group A:
180g light brown sugar
240ml water
55g butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves  (I used 1/2 tsp ground spice because I can't find ground cloves)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
300g raisins  (I used mixed of Silver Bird Sultanas & Sunmaid Raisins)

Group B:
2 eggs, lighted beaten  (my eggs are approx. 50g each w/o shell)
195g multi-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
50g dried cranberries
50g dried apricots  (cut to approx size of cranberries/raisins)
50g candied orange peels* (cut to approx size of cranberries/raisins)

*Click here on instructions on how to make candied orange peels.



How to do:

1. Pour all the ingredients under Group A except for raisins into a saucepan.
2. Use medium heat to stir till butter melted and everything well mixed.
3. Add in the raisins and bring to a boil.
4. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 5min.
5. After that, off the heat and set aside until it is lukewarm.

*******

6. Pour the Group A mixture into a mixing bowl.
7. Add in the ingredients in Group B and mixed well with a wooden spoon or spatula.
8. Grease the rice cooker inner pot with vegetable oil or butter and pour the mixture in.
9. This cake cooks in my Toshiba rice cooker for about 1.5 hours.
10. Once it's done, turn it out from the rice cooker and let it cool.

For storage, I wrapped in cling wrap, followed by aluminum foil and stored in the fridge.

:: Fruit Cake using Rice Cooker ::

I thought the fruit cake turned out beautifully. I had to wait for 1 day before cutting open it as the taste was supposed to be more settled after 1 day.

:: Beautiful Fruit Cake Slices ::

The fruit cake looked so beautiful, esp with the bits of orange colored peels and apricots. And the best part is, it tasted very moist and yummy! I am absolutely in love with fruit cakes now! I love it so much that I baked a few other batches to give to my friends.

:: Fruit Cakes using Oven ::

The above batch are done in petite loaf baking cups using oven. The recipe works well too! 

These petite loaf baking cups are 8cm by 4cm, 4.5cm height. I only have them filled to 1/3 and baked in the preheated oven at 180 degree for 15 min.