On the fifth day of Christmas (Fruit Mince Crumble Cake)

Okay is it just me or do I seem to be having a fair bit of difficulties with the 12 Baking Days of Christmas project? All of the cookie dough I have made so far has been really difficult to get together, my royal icing piping skills leave a lot to be desired and now this Fruit Mince Crumble Cake. Oh dear this was the biggest disaster so far. Let me just say that I have learned a very valuable lesson. When a recipe calls for a 23cm cake tin and you think your 20cm cake tin will suffice, you are wrong and you should just stop being so stingy and go buy a 23cm cake tin. That way you won't be so disappointed when you slice into your cake to discover the bottom of it isn't cooked at all and is instead just a sludgy mess. You also wouldn't throw a tantrum and throw the rest of the cake in the bin. Yes, it was not my finest moment. All of that aside though - the edges of the cake that were cooked tasted really good and I would be willing to try this recipe again with the correct cake tin. I think the cake would be especially tasty if served slightly warmed with some lovely home made custard. So don't let my mistakes deter you - I think this recipe could be a winner!


Fruit Mince Crumble Cake (from Better Homes and Gardens - December 2008)
Makes one 23cm cake

melted butter, for greasing
icing sugar, for dusting

Crumble
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
125g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

Cake
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
160g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
400g jar fruit mince (I used my home made fruit mince of course)
100g craisins (dried cranberries) (I omitted these)

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a 23cm round springform cake tin with melted butter and line base and sides with baking paper.
2. To make crumble, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.
3. To make cake, combine flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl. Rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre, add egg and milk and stir until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and press evenly on base.
4. Spread fruit mince over cake base, and sprinkle craisins over mince. Top with crumble mix.
5. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into centre of cake. Stand tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cake from tin and stand on wire rack until cold. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Lovely looking cake cooling on the wire rack...


Dust it with a bit of icing sugar...


Then slice it open to discover it isn't baked properly :( ...


See mushy insides...


Oh well at least the edges were edible...


Rating?
3 out of 5 reindeers! Would of been higher if I baked it properly!

On the second day of Christmas (Fruit Mince Pies)

Is anyone else here a massive fan of fruit mince pies? The wonderful soft and crumbly pastry and then that sweet and spicy fruit mince is definitely one of my favourite Christmas treats. In the past I have always bought store-made mince pies and have always thought they were pretty good, but this year I decided that it goes against my baking ethos to buy store-made and so I took on the challenge to bake my own.

For some reason I thought baking your own fruit mince pies would be a difficult and tedious task, however I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is actually quite easy and they taste fantastic! The fruit mince is not as sickly sweet as it generally is when it is store-made and I think the variety of dried fruit used in this recipe really makes the pies.


So on with the recipe. First off you need to make your fruit mince...


Spiced Fruit Mince (from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book)
Makes 14 cups

750g sultanas
750g raisins, chopped (I didn't chop mine)
450g dried currants
500g seeded dates, chopped
500g seeded prunes, chopped
2 large green-skinned apples, peeled and grated
200g brown sugar
2 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 tbsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup plum jam
375ml brandy (I used unsweetened orange juice instead)

1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Cover tightly with cling wrap and store in the fridge for at least 3 days before using (I had mine in the fridge for 2 weeks).
3. Stir the mixture once each day.
4. Mixture can be kept for 6 months.
   

Now that you have the fruit mince ready to go you just need to get the pastry ready and pop those babies in the oven.


Fruit Mince Pies (from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book)
Makes 24

300g plain flour
150g unsalted butter, chilled
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water, approximately (I only needed 1 tsp)
2 1/2 cups fruit mince
1 egg, lightly beaten, extra

1. Sift flour into medium bowl, rub in butter, stir in rind, oil and sugar.
2. Add egg and enough water to make ingredients cling together.
3. Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth. Cover pastry and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Roll pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick. Cut 24 x 7.5cm rounds from pastry, re-rolling dough as necessary to make 24 rounds.
   
5. Place rounds into 2 greased 12-hole (2 tbsp capacity) patty pan trays.
   
6. Divide mince among pastry cases.
   
7. Roll remaining pastry out and cut out 24 small stars. Top the pies with the stars.
8. Brush pastry with extra egg.
9. Bake in a 180C oven for 20 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
10. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Bottoms of the pies...


Filled with fruit mince, topped with a pastry star and brushed with egg wash ready for the oven...


Fresh out of the oven...


Dusting with icing sugar...


mmm yummy...


Rating
5 out of 5 reindeers!