Fresh Fruit Cake
Updated: Feb 1
This recipe is adapted and inspired by the wonderful @howtomakedinner. Call it love at 1st sight, I immediately fall in love when I saw her fresh fruit cake in her Instagram stories. You can call me weird, but I will always try to incorporate fresh citrus zest into my cakes. I personally feel that fruits bring out the flavors of the cakes without overpowering; with a sort of a fruity undertone.

You can check out her recipe here. As she strongly suggested in her recipe post, a combination of two fresh fruits is the go-to. You can even throw in some nuts for some extra crunchy texture. I did not have any of the listed suggested fruits on hand, so I decided to seek her advice. She is very kind enough to share her thoughts. Guess what? Her advice on using a combination of stone fruits and some berries works out beautifully (as you can see).

I also decided to switch out cinnamon powder for Chinese 5 spice powder instead. I personally feel like Chinese 5 spice is very underrated and it is not often used for baked goodies. You can give it a try or you can use just cinnamon. And if you like more earthy spices, you can increase the measurement to 1 TSP.

You can use any fruit combination you desired. It is best to make use of leftover fresh fruits and please do not even think of using any dried fruits. Yes, not even raisins! Else, why call this a fresh fruit cake? The directions are pretty straight forward and easy to put together. This is how I love my cakes: simple without any unnecessary icing or cream, moist, dense and full of flavors.

Ingredients:
Inspired & Adapted From @HowToMakeDinner
(Make one 8 inch cake)
Sunflower / Canola / Grapeseed or any other Neutral Oil, 118g + More For Greasing
Eggs, 90g
Demerara Sugar, 75g
Dark Muscovado Sugar, 75g
Unbleached All Purpose Flour, 185g
Sea Salt, 1/2 TSP
Chinese 5 Spice Powder, 1/2 TSP
Baking Soda, 1/2 TSP
Baking Powder, 1/4 TSP
Fresh Fruits Coarsely Diced (I am using Nectarines & Raspberries), 463g
Icing Sugar, For Dusting
Equipment:
Oven
8" Round Spring Form Cake Pan
Hand / Stand Mixer
Directions:
Please visit my "How To Make Chinese 5 Spice" page for the recipe.
Preheat oven to 175 degree celsius or 350 fahrenheit.
Grease the cake pan with oil and lined with parchment paper (on the bottom and at the sides as well).
Transfer eggs and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Using a hand or stand mixer, beat for 7 mins or until tripled in volume.
Add in oil and continue beating until well combined.
In another bowl, mix together flour, salt, 5 spice, baking powder and soda.
Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, 1/3 portion at a time.
Lastly, fold in the fresh fruits.
Once everything is incorporated, transfer the batter into the prepped cake pan.
Wack into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 mins or until it passes the skewer test.
It should puff up a bit and dark brown in color.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down completely.
Once cooled, unmold onto a serving plate or cake stand.
Lightly dust with icing sugar.
You can slice and serve it warm or chilled. I prefer mine warm.
