Larger Chocolate Fruit Cake

Asked by Princessloobylou. Answered on 26th April 2015

Full question

I have baked the Chocolate Fruit Cake a few times and it has always been amazing. I need to bake it again - but this time I need to make a 10 inch instead of the usual 8 inch. What extra should I add by way of ingredients and time to ensure the cake is just as delicious?

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Fruit Cake (from Christmas and on the Nigella website) is always very popular at Christmas and also as an alternative to traditional fruit cake at weddings. Apart from Nigella's more traditional fruit cake recipes we tend not to scale up recipes as it is not a straightforward process. However for this particular cake we have had so many requests for a larger size cake that we did test the cake in a 25cm/10-inch form.

For the larger cake you need to use 1 1/2 times the quantity of ingredients in the recipe. As this would require half an egg we suggest using an egg yolk instead of half an egg. Let the boiled fruit mixture cool for 45 minutes as a larger quantity will take longer to cool. The baking time is longer so we also suggest lining the tin with a double layer of parchment and then wrapping the outside with a double layer of brown paper. This will reduce the risk of the cake scorching at the edges. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 150c/300F for 1 hour then reduce the oven to 140c/275F and bake for a further 2 1/2 to 3 hours. When the cake is done it will be firm and shiny on top and a cake tester inserted into the centre the cake will come out with some gooey crumbs attached (but not raw batter). Cool and store the cake as described in the recipe.