Brandy Pineapple Fruit Cake

I have not been baking my all-time favourite, Hampton Fruit Cake for Christmas for the past three years.  I stopped due to either health reason or we were away during that festive season.

As mom likes fruit cake and by the time she is home, there is about a week left to this, 15 days of celebration.  So I decided to bake a Brandy Pineapple Fruit Cake so that she can share it with her guests and I can improvise on this recipe as well.

As I didn't want to join the long queue over this festive period, I used whatever I have on hand.  Thus I substituted mixed fruits with golden raisins and cranberries.  

This one month had been really tiring for me as I have to look after my sister as well as dealing with a poor back condition.  

The stubborn me, yet wanted to bake something for this festive season.  Hubby was really angry with me but it just doesn't feel right without any festive cookies and I have never enjoyed store-bought ones since the day I discovered baking.

After baking four varieties of cookie, I was trying to lie down as often to rest until I saw how easy this fruit cake is.  I jumped into it, so let's hope mom enjoys this as well.  

I am really looking forward to having mom home.   

In the meantime, I will keep feeding it with brandy to intensify the flavour till mommy comes home.

Learning experiencet: The cake is flavourful but somehow, I find it a little crumbly as I have a problem slicing it nicely.  Maybe I should be more generous with the brandy to add moisture to it.  

The cake tastes better after it has been aged with lots of brandy.  My guests totally enjoyed it.

So let's hope you enjoy this recipe as well.

To all my readers, I take this opportunity to wish you a 

新年快乐，万事如意

身体健康,  龙马精神 

I am submitting this to Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Bake for Happy Kids.

and 

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

What you need:

A

1 can of pineapple ring (chopped into small pieces)

380g golden raisins and dried cranberries (soaked in 7 tablespoon of brandy over night)

100g brown sugar

150g butter

B

2 large eggs

250g self raising flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Place (A) ingredients into a pot and cook till sugar and butter melt.  Leave to cool.

Greased and lined a 20cm square pan.

Add (B) ingredients into the cooled fruits.  Mix well.

Pour into pan and baked for 1 hour @ 180ºC .

Once baked, remove from oven and immediately drizzle brandy over.  I used about 5 tablespoons.

Wrapped cooled cake with aluminum foil.

I feed it a further 3 tablespoon more of brandy after 3 days.

Source: Malaysiabest.net