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Orange Christmas Fruit Cake- with citrus peel, orange marmalade and orangecello

Orange Christmas Fruit Cake- with citrus peel, orange marmalade and orangecello

Nov 12, 2025

We’ve been making this Christmas cake for over 30 years. In the early days, we used Cointreau, whiskey, or brandy, but about five years ago we started making our own limoncello and orangecello. Since orangecello is much more affordable than other spirits, we began using it in our Christmas cakes and we love it!

We also make our own mixed peel and marmalade, which helps reduce the cost (especially when we were making six cakes a year for family!). The result is a wonderfully moist cake with a rich citrus flavour — and the added satisfaction of knowing that three of the key ingredients are homemade. Give this cake a go. We are sure you will love it. 

Ingredients
Fruit Mixture (1.335 kg total mixed fruit)

You can use a pre-made mixed fruit blend or make your own using whatever dried fruit you have in the cupboard. The amounts below are just a guide — feel free to mix and match your favourites or adjust to suit what’s on hand.

Suggested mix:

  • 400 g sultanas
  • 250 g raisins
  • 125 g currants
  • 200 g dates, chopped
  • 100 g prunes, chopped
  • 60 g dried apricots, chopped
  • 100 g craisins
  • 100 g mixed peel
  • ½ cup orange marmalade
  • Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
  • Finely grated rind of 1 orange
  • ½ cup Orangecello, Limoncello, rum, whisky, or brandy

Photo Above: Dried fruit which has been macerating in orangecello for 12 days

Cake Batter

  • 250 g butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 
  • 5 eggs
  • 1½ cups high-grade flour
  • ⅓ cup self-raising flour
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 packet glace cherries (optional)

Method

  1. Combine all dried fruits (except glace cherries), citrus rinds, marmalade, and liqueur in a large non-reactive bowl.
  2. Stir well, cover, and refrigerate for 7 -14 days to allow the flavours to develop.
  3. Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Sift the flours and spices together.
  6. Stir the macerated fruit into the creamed mix
  7. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix gently.
  8. Fold in the glace cherries at the very end to prevent them from breaking up.
  9. Spoon the mixture into a prepared cake tin, pressing it into the corners and smoothing the top.
  10. We placed whole roasted almonds and dehydrated slices of blood orange on the top of the cake. Cover the top after 45mins with grease proof paper to stop the citrus slices from burning.
  11. Bake in a slow oven (140°C / 300°F) for 2 to 2½ hours, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  12. While still warm, brush the cake with a little extra Orangecello or brandy for added flavour and shine.
  13. Store in an airtight container. The cake improves beautifully over several weeks as the flavours mature.

 Photo Above: Alice and Gwen mixing the cakes together and making a wish. Note we made four cake mixtures separately, and then mixed them together in a massive preserving pot before putting them into their greased, lined tins.

Serving Ideas

  • Cover with marzipan and royal icing. Decorate with silver cachous royal icing figurines, or piped royal icing. 
  • Dust with icing sugar and decorate with dried citrus slices or rosemary sprigs.
  • Serve with whipped cream, mascarpone, or a drizzle of citrus blossom syrup.

Photo Above: This photo shows the height of the cakes from the side to give an idea of the size of the cakes.

Citrus Direct Tips

  • If you don't want to add marmalade, increase the brown sugar to 1 cup and mixed peel to 200gms.
  • If you don't want to use orangecello or limoncello, replace an equal quantity with orange liquor, whiskey, brandy, or rum.

 

Photo Above: The recipe repeated 4 times made 6 cakes. The one not showing is another large cake.