Welcome to Kitchen Queries, where the nigella.com team will answer your cooking or food related questions.  We’d love you to submit some of your recipe problems, dilemmas or queries for us to get our teeth into!

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• Chocolate Fruit Cake for Christmas

  Hi, Please can you tell me if the lovely chocolate fruit cake should/can be made in advance like traditional fruit cake? Thanks so much Michelle

  Posted by Meeshybelle0205. Answered on 14th Nov 2010 at 12.00

  From the nigella team:

  The beauty of the Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit cake is that it does not necessarily need to be made in advance. It is rich, damp and dark and will be delicious if served the day after baking, so is an ideal choice if you have very little time to make a Christmas cake.

  However you can make the cake in advance if you prefer. It can be made up to 3 months in advance and frozen (undecorated), tightly wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a double layer of aluminium foil. Defrost overnight at room temperature. The cake can also be made 2-3 weeks in advance and stored in a cool place, tightly wrapped in a double layer of greaseproof paper or baking parchment (parchment paper) and a double layer of aluminium foil.

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