Need an advice about fruitcake ingredients

[Morning Glory]

Organic? and Free Range for the eggs.
I rarely spend more than £60 on all of my weekly shopping (not just groceries) for 2 people at Waitrose which I didn't think was that bad actually, plus I can get virtually all of my specialist ingredients without having to do elsewhere which for me in a wheelchair right now is essential. Even getting those ingredients from Sainsbury's (staying with organic and/or free range) it is still over £30.

Yes they do organic and they do organic free range eggs (£1.49 for 6). Its just that the range is more limited. No bad thing IMHO! We have too much choice in most supermarkets.
http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/channels...s-its-first-ever-organic-range/372771.article

They are very good value for nuts.https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/product-r...etail-page/ps/p/whole-almondswhole-hazelnuts/ less than half the price of Waitrose and I use them and know they are good. Aldi do a litre of cloudy apple juice (not from concentrate) for 99p. Dark brown soft sugar 69p for 500g. etc. etc.

I do understand the convenience of Waitrose and I do use it sometimes. But Aldi beats them hands down on prices...

 

[classic33]

Theses are the ingredients for my Christmas cake (posted on here a couple of years ago). We tend to buy organic where we can for this cake because it is a one off and for Christmas and well, it is pricy compared to buying an off the shelf cake.

875g raisins - Waitrose Organic Raisins £1.76 per 375g pack (link not available) £5.28
875g sultanas - Waitrose Organic Sultanas £1.76 per 375g pack (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=25463) £5.28
200g glace cherries (the dark natural ones) - Waitrose Cook's Glace Cherries £2.25 per 200g pack (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=55121) £2.25
300g sour cherries (best ones I have found are from Sainsbury's) - Sainsbury's Dried Cherries £1.80 per 75g £7.20
100g chopped roasted hazelnuts - Waitrose Roasted Chopped Hazelnuts £2.25 per 100g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=49761) £2.25
100g blanched whole hazelnuts - Waitrose Blanched Hazelnuts £2.25 per 100g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=3057) £2.25
100g blanched almonds - Waitrose Blanched Almonds £1.55 per 100g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=3055) £1.55
100g ground almonds - Waitrose Ground Almonds £1.35 per 100g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=3047) £1.35
175g plain wholemeal flour - Waitrose Duchy Organic stoneground plain wholemeal flour £1.99 per 1.5kg (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=2742) £0.23
175g softened butter - Pure Dairy Free Sunflower Marg £1.50 per 500g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=19385) £0.52
90g molasses sugar - Billingtons Molasses Sugar £1.17 per 500g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=4117) £0.21
90g dark brown soft - Waitrose dark brown muscovado sugar £1.40 per 500g (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=4111) £0.25
2 tbsp black molasses (treacle is too sweet, so don't be tempted) - Meridian Blackstrap Molasses £2.99 per 740g jar - guessing at maybe £0.25
5 largish eggs - Waitrose Organic Freerange Eggs £2.40 per 6 (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=6974) £2.40
1 large or 2 small unwaxed lemons – rind and juice of. - Waitrose Essentials Unwaxed lemons £1.50 per pack of 4 (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=45401) £1.50
1 bottle dry apple juice (it is essential it is dry not sweet apple juice) - Watergull Orchards Bramley & Cox apple juice £2.55 per 750ml bottle (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=14801) £2.55
1 tsp mixed spices (store cupboard replaced every other year) £1.79 per pack (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=27753) £0.90

So I have divided the costs out as per store cupboard items such as flour, butter/marg sugar, etc.... and I get a tad under £36 (£35.97) before I have cooked it. Now I know my cake is a large cake, it has a lot of fruit and nuts in it and weighs around 3kg or so, probably more because of the bottle of apple juice (we have been known to use a good quality cider from somerset if we are down there at the right time), the closest cake I can find in Waitrose (our normal supermarket) is their 1.3kg cake (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=451982) which when not on special offer is £15



Nope, its not the expensive really is it?




That is about 70% of my weekly shopping bill in Waitrose for 2 people...

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By weight then, yours is actually cheaper than buying one ready made. And you have the advantage of knowing that there'll be nothing in it to which you can react.

An aunt used to make two separate ones, with no nuts, because the people who were receiving them were allergic/had a reaction to nuts.

The majority of her recipes are in her head, or written down in notepads(kept out of sight until needed).

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Yes they do organic and they do organic free range eggs (£1.49 for 6). Its just that the range is more limited. No bad thing IMHO! We have too much choice in most supermarkets.
http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/channels...s-its-first-ever-organic-range/372771.article

They are very good value for nuts.https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/product-r...etail-page/ps/p/whole-almondswhole-hazelnuts/ less than half the price of Waitrose and I use them and know they are good. Aldi do a litre of cloudy apple juice (not from concentrate) for 99p. Dark brown soft sugar 69p for 500g. etc. etc.

I do understand the convenience of Waitrose and I do use it sometimes. But Aldi beats them hands down on prices...

Curiously we have often found that a lot of the stuff we eat, and I disagree over choice of range, though prefer British and in season, a lot of the stuff we eat is actually cheaper in Waitrose than in tescos, sainsbury's, Morrisons or asda. I guess I should include the co-op in that list as well. I need specialist items such as dairy free marg, dairy free this that and the other and have often seen 20-30p and item and sometimes much more difference in the prices. I honestly have no idea on Aldi prices because I have never been into one in this country but my husband won't go into either Aldi or Lidl from previous experience abroad and we tend to avoid taking me into anywhere where the shelves are packed high and narrow nowadays because it is hard enough in a quiet store in a wheelchair as it is. Shelves are often too close together, too high, and most things I can't reach a it is. In Waitrose even the customers will stop and ask if I need help. In sainsbury's or tescos I can't even get the staff to help me most of the time! (I can't comment on Morrisons because it is opposite my husband's work place and I rarely get to go there anymore.)

 

[Morning Glory]

Curiously we have often found that a lot of the stuff we eat, and I disagree over choice of range, though prefer British and in season, a lot of the stuff we eat is actually cheaper in Waitrose than in tescos, sainsbury's, Morrisons or asda. I guess I should include the co-op in that list as well. I need specialist items such as dairy free marg, dairy free this that and the other and have often seen 20-30p and item and sometimes much more difference in the prices. I honestly have no idea on Aldi prices because I have never been into one in this country but my husband won't go into either Aldi or Lidl from previous experience abroad and we tend to avoid taking me into anywhere where the shelves are packed high and narrow nowadays because it is hard enough in a quiet store in a wheelchair as it is. Shelves are often too close together, too high, and most things I can't reach a it is. In Waitrose even the customers will stop and ask if I need help. In sainsbury's or tescos I can't even get the staff to help me most of the time! (I can't comment on Morrisons because it is opposite my husband's work place and I rarely get to go there anymore.)

Yes I do understand. But Aldi and Lidl have really improved their range and quality recently. The Lidl in Maidstone has an in store bakery which smells fantastic when you enter! I have an Aldi at the end of my road so its very easy for me to pop in there.

 

[idakz]

My mother always used brandy in her fruit cakes, mmmmm so good!

 

[L_B]

My mom used to make fruit cake may years ago. I always like it. I just buy it now but it never tastes near as good as the one she used to make. I prefer the dark fruitcake but I find the ones you buy as usually the light ones. I have no idea what her recipe was because I was very young at the time. It just remember watching her making it. It uses to have to set for quite sometime too.