This Pineapple Christmas cake recipe is well known to New Zealanders, and has been ever since our pre-eminent chef Alison Holst first made it on national television 30 years ago.
It has received thousands of positive reviews and comments over the years and many look to it as the tried and true ‘go-to’ Christmas cake.
Given its rave reviews I didn’t want to mess about too much with the original recipe, though I did get creative with the fruit mix. Instead of just adding the pineapple and juice to the mixed fruit, I also added orange zest, orange juice and a good dash of orange liqueur. I figured you couldn’t go wrong with a more distinct orange flavour and that the extra liquid would simply make the fruit juicier and plumper (which it did).
This was my first go at Christmas cake and I was rather apprehensive to say the least. But, in the end, despite the looming threat of failure and, with it, a huge waste of expensive ingredients, it proved quick and easy to make. And just to make double-sure that it was everything you want in a Christmas cake, I took a tiny core sample out of the middle of the cake (it’ll be covered with icing later anyway) and guess what? It was the most flavoursome, moist piece of fruit cake I think I’d ever eaten. So the accolades that Alison Holst receives for this cake are well deserved.
I used a heavy-duty 21cm square (8cm deep) cake tin and the mixture fitted in perfectly. As you can see, it’s one hefty cake and should do the family and guests pretty darn generously.
A quick note – December 2016: Just letting you know that this year I’ve made an alternative cake to the Pineapple Christmas Cake. It’s a Hazelnut Christmas Cake which is absolutely delicious, and my new personal favourite. It’s darker and richer than the pineapple cake and beautifully flavoured with Frangelico liqueur. Check it out here.
- 1.5kg (52.9 oz) (3.3 lb) mixed fruit
- 450g (15.8 oz) can crushed pineapple in juice
- Zest of 1-2 oranges
- 1/2 cup orange juice or orange liqueur (or combination of the two)
- 3 cups high grade (bread) flour (or feel free to use standard flour)
- 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 225g (7.9 oz) butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla, almond and lemon essences
- 6 large eggs
- 50g (1.7 oz) (1/3 cup) each glace cherries and blanched almonds
- Put the dried fruit, undrained pineapple, orange zest, orange juice and liqueur (if using) in a large, preferably non-stick fry pan. Cover the pan and heat until the liquid boils, then simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally.
- Leave in the pan overnight (I left mine for 3 days to give the fruit more time to absorb the liquid), or until cold.
- Prepare the tin/s. Line with a double layer of baking paper. For extra protection, you can wrap a further layer or two of brown paper or damp newspaper around the edges of the cake pan/s so the sides don’t dry out.
- Mix the flour and spices together and put aside. In a very large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and essences until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, adding 2 tablespoons of the spiced flour with each egg. Stir in prepared (cold) fruit mix and remaining spiced flour. If mixture seems too soft, add extra flour until mixture just drops from the spoon.
- Put into the baking pan/s, leveling the tops. Decorate with blanched almonds and cherries if you don’t plan to ice the cake/s.
- Bake the 23cm cake at 150°C (300°F) for 1-1/2 hours, then 130°C (265°F) for about 2 hours longer (this will depend on your oven, but mine was cooked exactly in the time suggested). Bake the 18cm cakes at 140C (280F) for 1 hour, then at 130C (265F) for about an hour longer. Bake mini cakes at 130C (265F) for about 1-1/2 hours. Once the top of the cake is browned sufficiently (may be anywhere between half way or two thirds of the way in), you can lightly place some foil over the top to prevent further browning.
- The cake is cooked when a skewer pushed to the base of the middle of the cake comes out clean. Upon removing the cake from the oven, and while it’s still hot, you can brush it with extra liqueur if you like. Remove cake/s from pan/s when cold.
- Decorate as you please, either with royal icing or simply with blanched almonds and/or glace cherries.
If storing, for best flavour and texture, wrap the cake/s in two layers of greaseproof paper, then two layers of foil (or you can use tea towels) and leave to stand in a cool place for a few weeks. If preferred, wrap the cake/s in plastic bags and refrigerate or freeze. Do not leave cake/s in sealed plastic bags at room temperature, since they may become mouldy if the temperature fluctuates.
Food Photography Info: Canon 550D (EOS Rebel T2i); Top picture – Canon 55-200mm lens; Middle picture – Canon 18-55mm lens; Bottom picture – Canon 50mm 1.8 lens / Natural lighting
Yum! I’ve never tried a pineapple christmas cake!
It’s really like a normal Christmas cake – it just has pineapple added to it which makes it more moist. Can’t wait to cut into it!
i love fruitcake. it looks wonderful!
Thank you!
Waw, very nice looking cake and very different from what I am used to, but sounds delicious! 😉
Thanks – it’s extremely popular over here in NZ.
Interesting to know..;)
luks delicioso, have been hunting for nz fruit cake recipe,will certainly try this n let you know thanks for sharing!!
Great! Hope you enjoy.
Susan just double checking No leavening agent? Such as baking powder, baking soda? Anxious to try this!
Hi, nice to hear from you Bonnie. No, no leavening agent like baking powder or soda. If you click through to the original recipe posted by New Zealand’s foremost cook, you’ll see that they’re not in the list of ingredients. The cake isn’t meant to rise; it’s a very dense fruit cake. Hope it works well for you!
I made this cake last year and now I am about to shop for the ingredients to make three this year. It is so moist and one all the family really loved. So if your looking for a cake that is moist and not to heavy with all those traditional fruits this is it. The best thanks from a happy Australian family.
So great to hear this Aileen – thanks for letting me know! Now you know why it’s NZ’s favourite Christmas cake!
Hi thanks for this recipe..i am wondering..I am about to try your recipe..Which mixture of fruit would you recommend? Thanks.
Hi Esther. It shouldn’t make too much difference which mixture you use. I personally use Tasti Fruit Mix, which is about half sultanas, and the rest artificial cherries (16%), citrus peel, raisins (11%) and currants (10%). Good luck for your bake!
Thank so susan I can’t wait to make this, just a question how long in advance do you ice it? Also will it stand inside room temperature is 30 inside on some days here in summer. Or should I pop it in the fridge. Thanks.
Hi Kirsty. I can never go past English cook Mary Berry for advice. She says to leave the icing until a week before Christmas. Start with the marzipan layer, if you’re using it, and let it dry for 2-3 days, then add the royal icing over top. As for storing the cake – don’t seal the cake in an airtight container once iced; just place foil over it and keep it in a cool, dark place. Re the heat issue, I’ve done some reading up on the internet and many cooks have said that if you don’t have a cool, dry spot, or an air conditioned room to place the cake in, then you can keep it in the fridge – but keep it uncovered, or else it will sweat. Once out of the fridge, apparently it’s a good idea to dry it out with a hair-dryer to get rid of any condensation. I hope that helps – it might pay to do a search on the internet to satisfy yourself on how best to store it. Good luck!
Thank you so much. I have just done my fruit and about to make the rest. But could not find bread flour can I just use normal?
Hi Kirsty. Oh yes, absolutely. Standard flour will be fine. Hope it goes well for you!
Might someone tell me what ingredients are in the teaspoon of “mixed spice?” Thank you!
Hi Karen. It varies, but generally speaking it’s a blend that originates in Britain, but which is very similar to the American pumpkin spice blend. Here’s a link to a recipe: I’ve looked at my own box of Mixed Spice and it combines coriander, cinnamon, pimento, ginger, cassia, nutmeg and cloves. Hope that helps.
I had a friend from NZ who made a fab pineapple Christmas cake but would never give me the recipe! Hope I have now found it- late on the day!!! Just a quick question – is the cooking temp for a normal or fan oven. Many thanks.
Jo
Hi Jo… yep, I suspect it might be this recipe, as it’s a real favourite within New Zealand. The temperature is for normal, as are all recipes on this blog. Hope you enjoy!
I would like to make this christmas cake this year to raffle for alzheimer’s would it be ok to ice it in November would it keep? I live in Scotland cold outside but warm in the shop where cake will be kept for raffle
look forward to hearing your reply
Hi Elaine from Scotland! What a lovely idea to raffle for the Alzheimer’s cause – one close to my heart too. Ordinarily you wouldn’t ice the cake that far before Christmas, I think mainly because it may dry out, though I certainly understand you need to if you’re raffling it. I’ve looked online to see what others recommend in this situation. I found a few suggestions where people made their own icing and added glycerine into it to stop it setting hard. Here’s a recipe here that you might find helpful: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmascakeicing_2360 So far as storing it, you’d ordinarily wrap it in parchment or foil (plastic wrap makes it sweat) and then keep it in a dry cool place. Given you’ll obviously need to put it on display, perhaps wrap it in some Cellophane with a few slits to let the air in, might work. I’m certainly no expert though, so I suggest if you’re unsure, to maybe phone a local bakery and ask for their recommendation. Hope that helps.
Thank you so much for your quick response I will certainly pop in to my local baker for advise don’t know why I never thought of that thanks again x