WOULD you look at that? It’s almost two months until Christmas which means it’s time to begin feeding the fruitcake. Chef Mynhardt Joubert changed my life and my festive traditions when he sent me his first cake and now I can’t imagine this time of the year without it, and the regular dosing with KWV brandy.
This year I’ve been asked to come up with some exciting new ways and ideas for serving the cake, and of course I am frozen with indecision. Any suggestions are welcome, you can get in touch with me via the link on this website. These are Mynhardt’s ideas:
- Fruitcake Brandy Cheese Platter: Create a Fruitcake Brandy Cheese Platter featuring thin slices of fruitcake paired with different cheeses, Weltevrede figs, roasted nuts, and a brandy dipping sauce.
- Fruitcake Nut Butter Bites: Cut your cake into bite-sized cubes, spread them with your favourite nut butter, and top with pistachios for added texture. Then skewer them and serve as a welcoming treat with a KWV brandy cocktail.
- Savoury Fruitcake Crostini: Slice your fruitcake into thin rounds and toast them lightly in the oven to create crostinis. Spread a thin layer of creamy goat cheese on each toasted fruitcake round and top it with the Weltevrede jam. Garnish with fresh rosemary for a festive touch.
These cakes are not purely for selfish, self-indulgent reasons; quite the opposite. They are part of a charity drive and the spirit of giving. Every cake you buy goes towards making someone’s Christmas just that little bit better. Over to Mynhardt, who has shared his special recipe (don’t be like me last year, read the whole thing first) in the following press release:
“As the festive season swiftly approaches, it evokes a sense of continuity and anticipation: the earth blessed with rain, seamlessly transitioning into a new growing season, and in my kitchen, the seventh Festive Fruitcake Charity Drive is underway! Everything underscores the spirit of abundance, and we want to empower you with something delicious to pay it forward. In this cherished tradition, my team and I wish to send a record number of these delectable fruitcakes into the world – imbued with love, generosity, and a conduit for giving back.”
For Mynhardt, the festive season is a time to reflect on his own fruitful beginnings, where his love for food was forged in the Free State. Every year, he embraces a tradition passed down from his grandmother to his mother and makes it his own in his annual Festive Fruitcake Charity Campaign. The joy of giving by creating delicious treats for charity and loved ones demonstrates the abundance of kindness and generosity that graces the festive season. This year, he invites all for a behind-the-scenes peek on social media, sharing the baking process and the unmeasured love he and his team pour into each cake. Keep an eye out as he shares heartwarming tales from the charities that benefit from the initiative so we can “bake” the circle of giving even bigger.
Mynhardt aims to sell 2500 of his iconic cakes this year, which will become beacons of hope as they grace festive tables across the country. His pledge since the inception of his Charity Drive in 2016 has been to light up South African households with these now fondly recognisable, cherry-bejeweled cakes. The 2023 Christmas Cake Charity Drive’s beneficiaries include Helpende Handjies, a small NPO run by Wilma Christoffels in Montagu, and Butterfly House, a community resource in Paarl. Trusted partnerships with renowned South African brands, including SASKO, Montagu Dried Fruit & Nuts, Bonnita Butter, and KWV Brandy, ensure these beautiful cakes make a difference. “I am so excited that we are now in the seventh year of this drive and grateful for all the support the sponsors, media and businesses have given us to make it happen. I hope the cake represents the message of abundance to each who receives a cake this year and encourages all to create light and laughter with it. Christmas is a joyful time, and the ability and privilege to give make it so much more special. I am excited to see how it manifests in stories around us,” says Mynhardt.
MYNHARDT’S FESTIVE FRUITCAKE
From ancient Rome’s “satura,” carried by soldiers on long journeys as a source of energy, to fruitcake in the Middle Ages enjoyed at celebrations with the addition of brandy or rum in 16th-century Europe, the fruitcake can tell stories. Brought to America by early European settlers, it was often exchanged as a gift. And as this was often at Christmas time, the 20th century saw the commercial production of these legendary cakes. While Germany has stollen, Italy has panforte, we proudly present Mynhardt’s Free State fruitcake.
PREPARATION: 30 minutes
COOKING: 2–3 hours
PASSIVE: at least one month before eating the cake
SERVINGS: 8 – 10 servings
PREHEAT OVEN: 120°C
Ingredients:
- 400ml water
- 100g Bonnita butter
- 200g soft brown sugar
- 400g fruitcake mix
- 250g dates, chopped
- 100g Montagu golden sultanas
- 200g Montagu raw whole almonds, roughly chopped
- 7ml bicarbonate of soda
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 20ml vanilla extract
- 75ml KWV brandy, plus 75ml to drizzle
- 100g whole red glacé cherries
- 100g whole green glacé cherries
- 200g SASKO self-raising flour
- 5ml salt
- 5ml ground cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven with the rack in the middle. Butter a deep 25cm cake tin, line it with 3 layers of baking paper and butter the top layer.
- Bring the water, butter, sugar, fruits, and almonds to a boil in a large saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the bicarb, mix through and remove from the heat. Leave to cool completely.
- In another bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, and brandy and add it to the cooled fruit mixture. Add the cherries, flour, salt, and cinnamon and mix well, ensuring all the flour is incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (moist, but not doughy).
- Once the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle the remaining brandy over it and leave to cool in the tin. Store the cake in an airtight container and moisten it liberally with brandy once a week to let it mature and allow the flavours to develop.
- To keep the cake moist, wrap it in baking paper, cover it in cling wrap, and store it in an airtight container. After being ripened for a few weeks, it is easy to freeze.
To order yours in time for the festive season, please email [email protected]. Please note prices exclude delivery, and shipping is available across South Africa for you to indulge in the sweet traditions of the season while contributing to a charitable cause.
🍰 Standard Christmas Cake
Size: 2.1 kg
Price: R550
🍰 Christmas Cake with Extra Preserved Green Figs
Size: 2.1 kg
Price: R650
🍰 Smaller Standard Christmas Cake
Size: 525 g
Price: R225
Follow Mynhardt’s Christmas Cake Charity Drive on Facebook and Instagram, and use the hashtags #bakeitforward #MynhardFestiveFruitcake.
