Grandma’s Genoa Cake

I have been wanting to add a light fruit cake to my blog for a while and haven’t found one I was happy with so I looked in my Grandma’s handwritten recipe book and found one she called Genoa cake. My Grandma’s recipes are always like doing a technical challenge on GBBO as they always contain the ingredients and nothing much else! I love trying her recipes as they really test my skills but I love the feeling of accomplishment once I have mastered them.

Genoa cake is a British light simple fruit cake and more of an every day cake for afternoon tea. It contains currants, sultanas or raisins and glacé cherries. It is one of those classic cakes you will always find on supermarket shelves here in England.

Other recipes that I have seen for similar cakes have had almonds in them but this one hasn’t.

It is a lovely light fruit cake perfect with a cup of tea for elevenses or for an afternoon tea. It is also really easy to make!

Jump to recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees centigrade (130 fan) then line and grease a 1lb loaf tin.

Put the butter and caster sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time until they are fully incorporated.

Put the dried fruit and cherries in a bowl and mix 2 Tbsp of the flour into the bowl to stop the fruit and cherries sticking together and sinking in the cake.

Add remaining flour to the egg mixture and beat again until incorporated.

Add the fruit and flour mixture and beat again.

Finally add the milk and mix again just to loosen the mixture slightly.

Put the mixture into the lined tin and flatten and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean then leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin.

Grandma’s Genoa Cake

Sarah’s servings: 8

Sarah’s skill: Easy

Baking time: 60-70 minutes

Ingredients

115g unsalted butter, softened

100g caster sugar

2 large eggs

175g self raising flour

55g sultanas

50g currants

30g glacé cherries, quartered

1 tbsp milk

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) then line and grease a 1lb loaf tin.

2. Put the butter and caster sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time until they are fully incorporated.

4. Put the dried fruit and cherries in a bowl and mix two tablespoons of the flour into the bowl to stop the fruit and cherries sticking together and sinking in the cake.

5. Add remaining flour to the egg mixture and beat again until incorporated.

6. Add the fruit and flour mixture and beat again.

7. Finally add the milk and mix again just to loosen the mixture slightly.

8. Put the mixture into the lined tin and flatten and smooth the top with a spatula.

9. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

10. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin.

Equipment Used

Download recipe card

Sarah’s extra slice……

You can used mixed dried fruit if you don’t have sultanas and currants.

This cake freezes really well for up to 3 months.