How to make Romy Gill’s Christmas fruit cake

The chef pays homage to all her influences back home with this festive classic

With ginger, figs, dates, orange zest and glace cherries, this packs a festive punch (Romy Gill)

We didn’t celebrate Christmas at home back home when I was growing up but I did go to celebrate at my friend’s house. 

Now, my husband Gundeep and I celebrate with my daughters and neighbours. 

Growing up, my mum never baked a cake. That was something she let other people do and plus, we didn’t have an oven. I grew up in Newtown in West Bengal, and my friends lived in the nearby towns of Asanol and Burnbur.

Asanol is a small town steeped in Armenian, Anglo Indian, Sikhs, Jains, Muslims, Bengalis and Hindus and there was the famous fruit cake sold there, in a shop front of the Atwal hotel. 

I used to look forward to seeing the then thriving bakeries, the churches and playing and eating with all my friends with different religions and cultures there.

The influences in my cooking is very much a reflection of other people who settled in Bengal like the Portuguese and the French. 

But you had to know someone from these other cultures, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to easily get to eat their food. 

This fruit cake is a homage to all the people I knew back then and have tried my best to give justice to this cake.  

Romy Gill’s Christmas fruit cake  

300g self raising flour  

3 medium eggs free range eggs  

200g dark muscovado sugar  

200g unsalted butter  

50g honey  

250g mixed fruits  

250g glace cherries  

100g dates  

100g dried figs

75g walnuts chopped  

75g pecan nuts chopped  

50g almond flakes  

200ml milk  

1tsp ground nutmeg  

1tsp ground ginger powder  

1tsp ground cinnamon  

1tsp baking powder  

2tsp grated orange zest  

50ml orange juice  

Add butter, sugar and honey in a pan, let it melt and then add mixed fruit and milk and bring to boil. Switch off the heat, add the chopped figs and dates into pan and mix. Leave aside to cool down.

Preheat the oven on 160C fan and line a baking parchment into loose based 25cm round cake tin.  

Sieve the flour into the mixing bowl, add baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, ginger powder and all the dry nuts.  

Next, add the whisked eggs, orange juice and grated orange zest fold together.

Add the fruit mixture that we made earlier and mix it all together with a blended.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, cover the top with a foil. Place the tin in the middle wire and cook for 90 minutes. Leave to cool and then carefully out of the tin. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy and share with your family and neighbours.

Romy Gill is a chef and food writer. Her debut book ‘Zaika’ is available to buy now. Follow her @romygill