Feeding Chocolate Fruit Cake

Asked by Kiwichan1. Answered on 12th November 2014

Full question

Can you me if you've to make this early and "feed" it to keep it moist like a traditional Christmas fruit cake? If not, how long would an iced one stay fresh for in an airtight tin? Thanks!

Our answer

One of the advantages of Nigella's Chocolate Fruit Cake (from Feast and on the Nigella website) is that it is very moist and so doesn't need to be fed with alcohol. However it is possible to feed the cake, if you wish to do so, and we would recommend using a coffee based liqueur. If you would like to feed the cake then we suggest making it one month in advance of Christmas.

While the cake is cooling pour a couple of tablespoons of liqueur over the top of the cake and let it soak in. When the cake is cold wrap it in a double layer of greaseproof paper (parchment paper) and a layer of foil and store it in a cool, dry place. Feed the cake once or twice more, each time with 1-2 tablespoons of liqueur. You can poke a few holes in the top of the cake with a cocktail stick (toothpick) to help the liqueur to soak into the cake. As the cake is moist we would recommend icing or decorating the cake as late as possible, as the moisture can affect the icing. If you are icing the cake with marzipan and icing then it will keep for up to a month in an airtight tin, but please note that it does not quite have the keeping qualities of a rich fruit cake.