If you make your own Christmas cake, do share your recipe here!
This is the one I always use. It's easy and we love it.
DD1 has a nut allergy so I have always made a nut free cake.
We like marzipan and icing on ours, so I do that just before Christmas. You can leave it plain, or decorate the top with nuts.
CHRISTMAS CAKE
175g butter, chopped
200g dark muscovado sugar
750g luxury dried fruit ( I use slightly less and make up the difference with glace cherries)
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml cherry brandy or brandy, plus 4 tbsp more for feeding the cake later
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
85g ground almonds
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
Put the butter, sugar, fruit, zests, juice and 100ml of brandy in a large pan.
Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the butter has melted. Reduce the heat and bubble for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C/Gas 2/Fan 130C and line a 20cm round cake tin.
When mixture has cooled down add the eggs and ground almonds and mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the pan. Stir in gently, until there are no traces of flour left.
Use the back of a spoon, dipped in hot water to do the smoothening of the top of the cake in the next step
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it down evenly.
Bake for 45 minutes, then turn down the heat to 140C/Gas 1/Fan 120C and cook for a further 1 – 1 1/4 hours (about a further 1 ¾ hours if you are using gas) until the cake is dark golden in appearance and firm to the touch. Cover the top of the cake with foil if it starts to darken too much. To check the cake is done, insert a fine skewer in to the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
Make holes all over the warm cake with a fine skewer and spoon the extra 4 tbsp of brandy over the holes until it has all soaked in. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. When its cold remove from tin, peel off the lining paper, then wrap, first in baking parchment or greaseproof paper and then in foil.
——♥♥♥♥♥—–
This is the one I always use. It's easy and we love it.
DD1 has a nut allergy so I have always made a nut free cake.
We like marzipan and icing on ours, so I do that just before Christmas. You can leave it plain, or decorate the top with nuts.
CHRISTMAS CAKE
175g butter, chopped
200g dark muscovado sugar
750g luxury dried fruit ( I use slightly less and make up the difference with glace cherries)
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml cherry brandy or brandy, plus 4 tbsp more for feeding the cake later
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
85g ground almonds
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
Put the butter, sugar, fruit, zests, juice and 100ml of brandy in a large pan.
Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the butter has melted. Reduce the heat and bubble for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C/Gas 2/Fan 130C and line a 20cm round cake tin.
When mixture has cooled down add the eggs and ground almonds and mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the pan. Stir in gently, until there are no traces of flour left.
Use the back of a spoon, dipped in hot water to do the smoothening of the top of the cake in the next step
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it down evenly.
Bake for 45 minutes, then turn down the heat to 140C/Gas 1/Fan 120C and cook for a further 1 – 1 1/4 hours (about a further 1 ¾ hours if you are using gas) until the cake is dark golden in appearance and firm to the touch. Cover the top of the cake with foil if it starts to darken too much. To check the cake is done, insert a fine skewer in to the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
Make holes all over the warm cake with a fine skewer and spoon the extra 4 tbsp of brandy over the holes until it has all soaked in. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. When its cold remove from tin, peel off the lining paper, then wrap, first in baking parchment or greaseproof paper and then in foil.
——♥♥♥♥♥—–
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