Christmas Cake
This is a well tried and tested recipe perfected over many years. One year I tried five different recipes. After much debating and tasting we whittled it down to one and then improved on it. The family like it and that’s good enough for me.
When I was a little girl my mother had high hopes for her Christmas cake. Cake icing was not a skill she possessed but each year she approached the task of icing the Christmas cake with new hope and vigor, thinking that this year she would create the perfect iced cake. Each year the cake would be presented with an iced snow scene adorned with small fir trees, an overfed robin, and several patchy reindeer, topped off with the piece de resistance – the shop bought frayed red ribbon.
Christmas Cake or Rich Fruit Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Stage One
Ingredients
225g/8 oz currants
225g/8 0z raisins
225g/8 oz sultanas
50g/2 oz dried apricots chopped small
175g/6 oz glace cherries cut into quarters or halves depending on how I am feeling.
100ml/4 floz brandy
Method
- Pick over the fruit for any stalks this might not seem important at this stage but I hate eating a piece of cake and getting a bit of stalk stuck in my teeth.
- Put all the fruit into an airtight dish and add the brandy. Stir well to blend, seal and leave.
- I tend to leave mine in a dark cupboard for two weeks or more, stirring the fruit every week or so. The smell is fantastic and after two weeks the fruit has plumped up beautifully.
Ingredients
Stage Two
50g/2 oz blanched almonds chopped roughly but small
50g/2 oz brazil nuts chopped roughly but small
225g/8 oz butter
225g/8 oz soft dark brown sugar
4 eggs
225g/8 oz white plain flour
5ml/1 level tsp ground mixed spice
½ level tsp ground cinnamon
Greaseproof paper
string
brown paper or an old large envelope
Method
- Draw around the bottom of your 8″ cake tin on top of a double layer of greaseproof paper, cut out the circles and line the bottom of the cake tin with these.
- Cut a length of greaseproof paper this is going to line the inside of the tin, this needs to be folded in half and placed inside the tin it should be raised above the height of the tin. Then cut a length of brown paper folded over to go around the outside of the tin again raised above the height of the tin. This is to help the cake from burning. A little like a sun shield.
- The oven needs to be set at 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.
- Soften the butter and beat until soft and pale, now add the sugar and beat well until it is all blended.
- In a measuring jug beat the four eggs and begin to pour them into the mixture a little at a time, beating constantly. If the mixture begins to curdle add a tablespoon of flour and keep beating until it goes back to a smooth consistency.
- Add the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon, and using a metal spoon gently fold into the mixture. Add the fruit and the chopped nuts. Using the metal spoon continue to fold in gently. If the mixture for some reason seems dry or heavy, add 2 tbsp milk.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth the top with the back of the spoon making a slight dome in the centre. This will help the cake to bake level.
- Bake in the centre of the oven 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2 for 3 ½ hours. I either write down the time I put the cake in or use the timer. It’s important to get the timing right. After 3 1/2 hours check the cake with a skewer. If it comes out clean then it’s done, there is a lot of brandy-laden fruit in the cake so I look closely that it’s not fruit sticking to the skewer.