Full question
I followed the recipe for Gorgeously Golden Fruit Cake but mine did not rise past about 2". There is no leavening in the recipe. Should I have beaten egg whites to get better rise? What might be the cause?
Our answer
Nigella's Gorgeously Golden Fruit Cake (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is a gluten-free rich fruit cake. It is made with a combination of golden-coloured fruits, rather than the more traditional dark fruits, but is still rich and moist. It is correct that there is no leavening included.
The cake will not rise much as it is a rich fruit cake rather than a light fruit cake or sponge-type cake. It should have a fairly close and slightly crumbly texture. Most rich fruit cakes, such as Christmas cake, have very little to no leavening in them as they are loaded with fruits and nuts. Also as the Gorgeously Golden Fruit Cake is gluten-free it is likely that if you added leavening in the form of baking powder or whisked egg whites, then the cake would sink quite dramatically when it cooled.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more questionsYour comment has been submitted.