SECTION F - FRUITCAKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Rich Fruit Cake Championship & Genoa Cake Championship
Sponsored by Sunbeam Foods & Angove’s Wines
 

RULES & REGULATIONS
 
1. No entry fee charged
2. Only one entry per exhibitor
No exhibitor can win more than one Regional Final. Once an exhibitor has won at Association level, they cannot enter in another Association final for the Show season.

 

Prepared by Agricultural Societies Council of SA Inc
PO Box 108, Goodwood SA 5034

 
CLASS 1 - RICH FRUIT CAKE COMPETITION 

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Recipe
Ingredients
250g butter 60g chopped red glace cherries
250g dark brown sugar 60g mixed peel
5 eggs 60g chopped almonds
250g sultanas 375g plain flour
250g raisins 1 tsp baking powder
200g currants 1 tsp mixed spice
100g dates 200ml sherry or brandy

Method
Chop fruits, mix together and soak in the sherry or brandy overnight. Sift together flour, baking powder and spice. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then alternately add fruit and flour and lastly chopped nuts. Mix thoroughly. Place mixture in a well-prepared tin (square) 19-22cm and bake in a slow oven for approximately three to three and a half hours.
Note: Fruit should be cut to the size of currants

 

CLASS 2 - GENOA CAKE COMPETITION 
Exhibitor’s own recipe is used.
It should contain sultanas, currants, cherries and almonds.
There is to be no restriction on the ingredients used.

Faults to look for -
Carelessly prepared tin – wrinkled lining.
Careless measurement of ingredients – sugar becomes liquid when heated, so care must be taken not to exceed the recipe quantity.
Carelessly prepared fruit – not correctly cut and separated.
Insufficient creaming of butter and sugar.
Eggs not beaten in well after each addition.
Overpowering aroma of essences and/or spices
Flour and fruit not sufficiently mixed in – leaves streaks and unmixed dry ingredients.
Carelessly filled tin – work cake well down (Never leave the scrapings from the bottom of the bowl sitting on top of the cake. This will show a pale patch when cut).
Oven too hot
Oven too cold
Insufficient cooking time – the cake will sink in the middle and be very soggy.
 

WHAT THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR
To judge, cut cake straight across. Tasting wedge to be cut from the centre of the cake.

Appearance
Smooth appearance on top, bottom and sides. No sign of shiny, dark, overheated fruit protruding from the surface. The cake should be firm, smooth, fresh and not too moist to touch but not too dry either, preferably with a well ripened patina on the top surface. Straight sides, and a smooth flat top showing even distribution of fruit.

Finish in baking
No bumps, hollows or sunken centres, nor large cracks (a small crack is not a major fault). The cake should cut cleanly, without any crumbs, and without catching and dragging of fruit. There should be no burning or crusty top or sides (caused by too hot an oven or insufficient papering). After the cake is cut, the fruit closest to the outside should not appear to be dark and shiny (caused by overcooking in too hot an oven). This fault causes a bitter flavour. No air bubbles in finished cake.

Colour
Attractive, even, golden-brown on the top, bottom and sides. A darker colour for the Rich Fruit Cake.

Texture
Firm and fine; it should be moist, not soggy nor dry. The texture should be smooth and even, and the same right through the cake. A well ripened cake cuts cleanly and evenly.

Flavour and aroma
Delicious, and should be a perfect blend of fresh eggs and dairy ingredients, sugar, essences, flour and spices, sherry or brandy and quality dried fruit. Beware of an overpowering flavour or aroma of essences or spices, or the acrid smell of overheated fruit.

Decoration
Do not decorate Rich Fruit Cake with almonds. Genoa Cake may be decorated with almonds.

Presentation
Remove all paper from the cake before exhibiting. No cake cooler marks (cool on upturned cake tin).

 

JUDGING SCORES

 

Judging scores are based on the following:
50% Appearance
25% Texture
25% Taste/Flavour

“A fruit cake, like maturing wine, is greatly improved with age. Many a prize has been won by a cake almost fresh from the oven, but if allowed to keep, a change will develop about the end of the first week. The surface of the cake will start to develop a patina, and the aroma becomes richer.

Rich Fruit Cake:

First Prize $60

Second Prize $25

Third Prize $10

 

Genoa Fruit Cake:

First Prize $50
Second Prize $20

Third Prize $10

 

Winner eligible to compete in the State Final to be held at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2024
 

How to Enter​

• Entry form to be completed online by Wednesday 27th March 2024, 6pm

• All exhibits to be in by 9.00am Friday, 5th April, 2024

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Enquiries

Further enquiries to Jenny Hood, Cookery Convener
PO Box 30, Wynarka SA 5306
Phone: 0408 300 403