Quick and Easy Traditional Christmas Cake

No matter which British Christmas tradition you and you family observe and no matter what you serve on the big day nothing beats having a homemade Christmas Cake.

Traditionally you would put a layer of marzipan paste on top of the cake and a royal icing but some members of my family don’t like the marzipan or the icing so I will be topping mine with delicious and luxury glacé  fruits from Walnut Tree Gifts.

A good Christmas cake will have had the dried fruits soaking overnight (minimum) in brandy and after baking and it has cooled you “feed” it with a bit more brandy.  You also “feed” it every week until Christmas with some more brandy!! This way you will have a really delicious and moist cake to enjoy on Christmas afternoon when everyone wants a cuppa tea/coffee, a small glass of port and a slice of something sweet.

There are recipes that say put everything except the fruits in a large bowl and mix well before adding the dried and soaked fruits, the treacle and citrus zest.

I prefer to cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy before adding the eggs one at a time.

Next I add the dried ingredients followed by the dried and glacé  fruits, citrus zest and black treacle.  I am sure that this ensures the whole cake is mixed really well and there will be no pockets of unmixed ingredients.

Another tip is to prepare your tin (grease and line with baking parchment), measure and weigh all of your ingredients before starting to assemble your mixture.  Also make sure that your butter and eggs are room temperature.

Recipe:

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Quick and Easy Christmas Cake

Perfect Christmas cake to celebrate the holiday season

Author: Heidi Roberts

Ingredients

• 450 grams currants
• 175 grams sultanas
• 175 grams raisins
• 50 grams glace cherries
• 50 grams mixed and chopped candied peel
• 100 ml brandy
• 225 grams plain flour
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ⅛ tsp ground cloves
• 225 grams soft dark brown sugar
• 50 grams chopped almonds
• 1 large Tbsp black treacle
• 225 grams butter - room temperature
• 5 medium eggs
• 1 grated zest of one lemon
• 1 grated zest of one orange

Instructions

1. Grease and line your 20cm round baking tin with double layers of parchment paper

2. Tie a band of brown paper or parchment around the outside of the tin and tie with string

3. Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 1

4. In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and spices and set aside

5. In a large bowl beat the soft dark brown sugar with the butter until it changes colour and gets light and fluffy

6. Add the eggs in one at a time to ensure they are fully mixed in

7. If you want you can add a spoonful or two of the flour as you go to keep the texture smooth

8. Add the dry ingredients and mix well

9. Gradually fold in the soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts and treacle

10. Add the grated zest of the lemon and orange

11. Mix well until there are no pockets of flour and everything is evenly mixed

12. Transfer the mixture to your prepared cake tin.

13. Spread the mixture out evenly.

14. Cover the top of the cake with a double layer of baking parchment with a 50p size hole in the centre to prevent the top of burning.

15. After the time is up check with a toothpick in the middle of the cake to see if it comes out clean.

16. Cool for 30 minutes in the tine. After 30 minutes remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool completely

17. Prick small holes in the top of the cake and pour a tablespoon of brandy over the top - repeat this step every week until Christmas

18. Wrap in a double layer of greaseproof parchment and store in an airtight container until Christmas Eve. This is when you can decide to ice the cake or simply top with glace fruits.

When I am ready to serve the cake I will paint the top with warm apricot jam , strained and place pieces of glacé fruits over the top.

I will also be making a glacé fruit ice cream with some more of the fruits.

Keep an eye out for the recipe – I just know you will love it.

Further reading:

If you enjoyed this recipe and would like to discover some more click on the links below.

My Christmas Cranberry Relish

Melomakarona – Greek Christmas Cookies

Christmas Smoothie

Disclosure:

I was not required to write this recipe.  All opinions and photographs are my own. No photos may be reproduced in any manner without my written permission.