The Christmas Cake Recipe You Need Right Now!
I made our Christmas cake yesterday because my real man gets a bit anxious this time of year in case we don’t have sufficient tonnage of food for the two of us!
This is the recipe I use which, by making adaptations to various recipes through the years, is apparently getting close to what his Mam used to make. Also it is delicious.
Christmas Cake Recipe
This is for a 23cm (9”) round cake tin – probably easier to buy a new pan than try and calculate for smaller or larger cake tins!
The day before baking the cake …
1 kg mixed dried fruit (mine included cranberries which is extra Christmassy)
120g glacé cherries – cut into quarters
4 tablespoons brandy
~ Mix all of the above together and leave overnight to soak.
The next day you need …
275g soft dark brown sugar
275g soft butter
275g plain flour
a very generous pinch of salt – maybe ½ teaspoon
1 level teaspoon mixed spice
60g ground almonds
5 large eggs
grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Golden Syrup
a generous amount of brown paper
a length of string
~ Preheat the oven to 140ºC/275°F/120ºC fan/gas 1.
~ Grease the 23cm cake tin, line with baking parchment and grease again.
~ Cut two long strips of brown paper sufficient to tie a band round the cake tin plus cut a
circle of brown paper the size of the cake tin and cut 3cm hole in the middle.
~ In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter until really fluffy and well combined. Don’t stint on this.
~ In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt and mixed spice. Then add the ground almonds.
~ In another bowl beat the eggs together.
~ Stir the zests and the golden syrup into the fruit and brandy mixture.
~ Gradually, a little at a time, whisk the beaten eggs into the creamed butter and it is a good idea to add just a spoonful or so of the flour mix at the same time – this will prevent curdling.
~ When fully combined fold in the rest of the flour mixture. When I say fold I mean fold in, not stir– see below.
~ Now stir in the fruit and all its juices, plus the citrus zests and golden syrup – I know it seems a lot, I am perturbed every year but it works.
~ Decant into your prepared cake tin, level the top and tie the bands of brown paper around the cake tin, place the piece of paper with a hole on top and then put it in the oven.
~ Make a cup of coffee (or tea I suppose) and scrape the bowl. For this reason it is best to make this when your family is out.
~ The cake will take 4½ – 5 hours and ignore it for at least 4 hours. It is really when a cocktail stick or similar inserted into the centre comes out clean.
~ Cool for a little while in the pan then carefully remove and finish cooling on a rack.
Store the cake wrapped in parchment in an airtight tin and every now and then pour a spoonful of brandy into its bottom until you marzipan and ice it.
Once you have marzipanned the cake see here for lots of delicious ideas for leftover marzipan.
How to Fold In
Although it is difficult to explain an action in words, for those of you unsure of how to fold in I’m going to give it a try because this is important – you want to retain the air that has been whisked in and even to fold in a tad more.
Using a large metal spoon or a spatula cut across the middle of the mixture, slide the spoon or spatula under it to the edge of the bowl and fold that portion over the rest.
It’s quite easy to do, just hard to describe. Keep cutting and folding from different angles, rotating the bowl, till everything is merged together in a light and airy way.
Stir Up Sunday
Although these days we tend to think of stir up Sunday as the day we should make our Christmas pudding and cake it really has nothing to do with that! The phrase is from a collect in the Book of Common Prayer, for the last Sunday before Avent which begins with the words, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, …”. Obviously this got people thinking of making their Christmas cake!
Stress Free Christmas Recipes
I would, of course, just like to mention my Christmas book Easy Festive Food for a Stress-Free Christmas!
Please pass on this recipe for me!
Christmas is coming – make a cake to celebrate!
#christmascake
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
One Comment
Charlotte Oates
Aaaargh, I still haven't made my Christmas cake! I really must get on with it. I always seem to start making it too late in the day so I'm up in the middle of the night checking if it's cooked.