Baking Dessert

Andy Allen’s gin and juice Christmas fruit cake

Name: Andy Allen's gin and juice Christmas fruit cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 200g unsalted butter, chopped, plus extra, to grease; 200g dried dates, roughly chopped; 200g dried figs, roughly chopped; 200g currants; 200g mixed dried fruit (we used mixed peel, prunes and sultanas); 500g ripe plums, halved, stones removed, roughly chopped; 150g marmalade, plus extra, to brush; 140ml sloe gin (we used Brookie’s Slow Gin); 160g brown sugar; Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange; Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon; 150g plain flour; 75g almond meal; 1 tsp mixed spice; Pinch ground cinnamon; Pinch baking powder; 2 large eggs, lightly whisked; Lemon peel and bay leaves, to line the pan

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30m

1h 20m

Gin and juice Christmas cake — Ben Dearnley

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by delicious. team

delicious. team

Nov 26, 2025

“A recipe filled with juicy, boozy spiced action! This is an awesome Christmas cake, and one we make every year. It also works well as an all-year round dessert, or little treat with a cup of tea. We love using our Three Blue Ducks cumquat jam, made using spent cumquats from Brookie's Gin. However, marmalade or a citrus jam can be used as a substitute.” – Andy Allen.

You’ll need 2 x 9.5cm x 19.5cm, 7cm-high loaf pans for this recipe.

200g unsalted butter, chopped, plus extra, to grease
200g dried dates, roughly chopped
200g dried figs, roughly chopped
1 1/3 cups (200g) currants
200g mixed dried fruit (we used mixed peel, prunes and sultanas)
500g ripe plums, halved, stones removed, roughly chopped
150g marmalade, plus extra, to brush
140ml sloe gin (we used Brookie’s Slow Gin)
2/3 cup (160g) firmly packed brown sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup (150g) plain flour
3/4 cup (75g) almond meal
1 tsp mixed spice
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch baking powder
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
Lemon peel and bay leaves, to line the pan

Method

1.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add dried fruit, plum, marmalade, gin and sugar and stir until well combined. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until softened and liquid reduces. Add the zest and juice and stir to combine. Set aside until room temperature (mixture will thicken).
2.

Sift over the flour, almond meal, spices and baking powder (some almond meal may remain in the sieve; just add to pan) and stir until combined. Add eggs and stir until combined.
3.

Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced. Grease and line 2 x 9.5cm x 19.5cm, 7cm-high loaf pans with baking paper. Brush base with extra butter and arrange lemon peel and bay leaves over the bases to decorate.
4.

Gently pour batter into pans and level surface with a spatula. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in centres comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack
5.

Serve brushed with extra marmalade.