Christmas Fridge Cake - Full of Nuts and Cherries

If you have run out of time to make a traditional Christmas Cake, or, like myself, you are not particularly partial to said traditional cake, this glorious extravaganza of a fridge cake, filled with dried fruits and nuts will certainly more than adequately fill that spot. Not only does my entire family love to eat it, but it is very easy to make. Better yet, if you parcel up fat squares of it in cellophane wrapping with a bright big red ribbon as a bow they make perfect little presents - if you can bear to part with any, that is. Given a family penchant for gluttony with regard to this particular Christmas Fridge Cake, I tend to quadruple the recipe given below, which will then make three large pyrex rectangles of wonderful Christmas Fridge Cake. If you leave out the biscuits/cookies, it is gluten-free. 

Nuts, cherries, dried fruit, dates and cookie Christmas Fridge Cake

My mother got this recipe from Sally Don-Waucophe, but I'm afraid to say I've fiddled greatly with the proportions (more nuts and fruit than Marie biscuits (for which you can substitute digestive biscuits or rich tea biscuits). In particular, to appease all the males in my family who are nuts for cherries, I have taken out the currants and put in cherries instead. But you can always revert back to the original proportions, as long as the cup measures remain largely the same.

So easy to make, even the boys can help

Christmas Fridge Cake Recipe

250 g butter (1/2 pound)

125 mls sugar (1/2 cup) - preferably very soft brown sugar

120 g pecan nuts or walnuts (1 cup)

150 g dates (1 cup)

150 g sultana (1 cup)

150 g cherries - or currants (1 cup)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 packets marie biscuits, crushed (or one big packet digestive biscuits)

l tsp cocoa

Melt butter in pan, together with the dates, particularly if you have bought the dates de-pipped and packed into a neat, solid rectangle, as we get in South Africa. Of course in Saudi, you can get fresher dates and de-stone them. It is important to melt the dates at heat, since they are one of the binding ingredients. Simmer at low heat until they have become gloriously sticky, such that it would be good enough to wallow in, were you a hippo :D. 

A hot, glutinous mass of butter and dates 

Add sugar to pan, until it is fully incorporated, then add cocoa then fruit and nuts and bring nearly to boil.

Red and green cherries and pecan nuts: a far more Xmas effect

Add beaten eggs and boil the mixture for three minutes. I assume by that time the egg that is used to bind the mixture will be fully cooked. Don't worry, even though you think the egg will become like an omelette, it won't. 

Remove from stove and add vanilla and crushed biscuits (the easiest way to crush the Marie biscuits is simply to take a rolling pin to them while still in the packet and bash hard - the boys love this part - just as well I have two wooden rolling pins). Mix well and press into one or two loaf tins or pyrex dishes which have been lined with greaseproof or nonstick baking paper and pack tightly. This year, I forgot to line the pyrex dishes, but as long as you butter the pyrex dishes and then let it set hard in the fridge, you can still get the pieces out intact; it is also important that you press the hot mass into the dish in the first instance very well so it is nice and compact.

They always say, "Reserve cherries or nuts for the topping". In my instance, I reserved nothing, but simply added more at the end. Sometimes, more is more. More cherries, more colour, more fun eating.

Most of the ingredients, pre-weighed for quadruple recipe

Here are the ingredients for a quadruple recipe, for giving away (well, that's our story anyway and we are sticking to it): 

Quadruple Christmas Fridge Cake Recipe

1 kg butter

500 g soft brown sugar

500 g pecan nuts

600 g dates (though I tend to throw in another 125 g packet)

600 g raisins

600 g cherries (red and green)

8 eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla

4 packets marie biscuits (I tend to halve the biscuits)

4 tsps cocoa