Best 6 Chocolate Fruit Basket Cake Recipes

ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with grease and flour.
• In a bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), add cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined.
• Slowly add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Divide the batter between pans. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out with a few crumbs (but not wet batter), about 25-30 minutes.
• Let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out from pans. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely as you make the whipped cream.
• In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks are just about to form. Add in vanilla and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form, making sure not to overbeat.
• Set one of the 8-inch round cakes on a cake stand.
• Spread about 1 cup of whipped cream over the cake with an offset spatula.
• Set the second cake on top of the first cake. Cover the second cake in whipped cream.
• Place the fruit on the lower edge of the cake. Then, place more fruit on top of the second cake. Garnish with baby's breath (optional, but remove before eating the cake).

CHOCOLATE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Line the sides and bottom of an 8 by 3 1/2-inch deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
• Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange zest and juice, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and baking soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.
• Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle.
• Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.
• To decorate, place the chocolate-covered coffee beans in the centre of the cake and arrange the gold stars around the perimeter of the top of the cake. Then sprinkle some gold mini-balls over the whole cake and sprinkle the top with edible glitter.

THE BEST FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combine the raisins, currants, apricots, figs, prunes, dates, walnuts, pecans, orange zest, lemon zest, candied ginger, pumpkin pie spice and cloves in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add 1 cup of the brandy, orange liqueur and molasses and stir to coat. Cover and set aside to macerate overnight. (Alternatively, cover the bowl and microwave 2 minutes, or until very hot. Leave covered and let sit until almost all the liquid has been absorbed into the fruit and nuts, about 2 hours.)
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and line each with 2 pieces of parchment, one lengthwise and one crosswise, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side. Spray the parchment with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the soaked fruit mixture and toss to coat. Whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
• Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to medium-low and beat in the flour mixture until the batter is blended and smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until all the fruit is coated in batter.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared pans, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans, the tops spring back slightly when pressed and a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons brandy. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove each cake from its pan using the parchment overhang and place on the rack to cool completely.
• To store, wrap each loaf tightly in plastic and then foil. The wrapped fruitcakes can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months.

CHOCOLATE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Put the butter, sugar, chocolate, brandy, vanilla and dried fruits into a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat.
• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep cake tin, 20cm round or 18cm square, with a double layer of baking parchment. Wrap a few layers of newspaper around the outside and secure with string.
• Mix the flour, almonds, cocoa and spice together. Stir the eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture in the saucepan, followed by the flour mixture. Scrape into your prepared tin and bake for 1½ hrs- 1 hr 45 mins or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then decorate (see 'Goes well with', right, for decoration ideas). Greaseproof-wrapped cake will keep for 2 months in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED FRUITCAKE BALLS

Steps:

• In a food processor grind the fruitcake until it forms a ball, scoop up rounded teaspoons of it, and with dampened hands form them into balls. Let the balls stand, uncovered, in a jelly-roll pan lined with wax paper for 30 minutes. In a small metal bowl set in a saucepan of barely simmering water melt the chocolate, stirring until it is smooth, and remove the bowl from the pan. Balancing the fruitcake balls, 1 at a time, on the tines of a fork, dip them into the chocolate, letting the excess drip off, and transfer them to the wax paper, reserving the remaining chocolate for another use. Chill the balls for 30 minutes, or until the chocolate is hardened. The fruitcake balls keep, covered and chilled, for 1 week.

FRUIT BASKET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in sour cream, orange juice, orange peel and vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients and beat until well blended. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops. Bake cakes until light golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 30 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely. Whipped Crème Fraîche • Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in large bowl until stiff peaks form. I sprinkle with fresh fruit or shaved white chocolate, or both!!!