When families gather during the Christmas season, they often meet around a meal, and the right dessert brings everything together. A classic fruit cake never disappoints.
This year, you can impress your family and friends with your own Christmas cake. Food For Mzansi asked chefs to share their secrets to making the perfect cake.
Farmer and chef Busisiwe “Busie” Mbane, from the Eastern Cape, says one of the most important steps before baking is sifting your flour.
She explains that sifting removes lumps, adds air, and helps everything mix more evenly, which gives you a lighter and better-textured bake. “Unsifted flour can be packed and heavy, and that can throw off your whole recipe.”
Mbane adds that a Christmas fruit cake needs careful steps to get it just right.
Chef Busie’s Christmas fruit cake
Ingredients & Method
Butter 225 g
Sugar 150 g
Whisk them together until well combined.
Add: 3 eggs
Whisk for one minute.
Add: 225 g flour, one and a half teaspoons baking powder
Mix together.
Add: 2 teaspoons vanilla essence, 60 ml milk
Mix well.
Add: 300 to 400 g dried fruit and nuts. Fold in gently.
Add glazed cherries and fold them in as well.
Bake at 170°C for 50–60 minutes.
Mbane says fruit cakes taste better when made a few days ahead, so the flavours can develop. Soaking the dried fruit overnight in brandy, rum, or juice adds moisture and richness.
She says fruit cake goes well with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, caramel sauce, chocolate, or honey syrup. It also pairs with dessert wine, rum, or espresso.
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Master the basic chocolate cake
Baking is a science of art. If you leave out even one ingredient, you might waste the whole process, says chef Nolusindiso “Sindie” Rosi, a pastry chef based in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. She says this is why you need to have all your ingredients and equipment ready, along with a simple checklist, before you start mixing.
Another important tip, she says, is to start with a beginner-friendly cake until you perfect it. Only then should you move on to more complicated bakes.
“Warm cake is very soft and fragile. If you cut it or move it too soon, it crumbles easily.”
She also notes that most fruit cakes, including Christmas cakes, take time to prepare. You usually start them earlier by soaking the fruit in alcohol. That is what gives the best results.
“Chocolate cake is one of the easiest cakes to start with. With only three days to bake and allow it to set, you already have a beautiful cake that is ready to serve.”
Nolusindiso Rosi
Try chef Sindie’s beginner chocolate cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 and a half cups of cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 and a half teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 and a half tablespoons of salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 and a half cups of buttermilk
- 1 and a half cups of warm water
- Half a cup of oil
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Method
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Mix until well combined.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
Rosi says chocolate cake is enjoyable on its own, but also pairs well with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, salted caramel, strawberries, raspberries, and even a cup of coffee or espresso.
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