I had to take a couple of liberties when I was making the cake as the recipe as it is written literally has all the ingredients written down with the instructions “Mix, leave for a day and cook” No temperatures or steps. I worked from previous Christmas cakes I have made and it turned out okay.
There are a couple of steps you need to take before making the cake.
You will need a 12 inch tin – square or round is completely up to you.
Grease and line the tin with parchment paper. Then do it again. Around the outside of the tin, wrap a double layer of brown paper and tie in place with string. Cut out a double thickness size sheet of brown paper or parchment paper to sit over the top of the cake. Place all this to one side and start the fun part.
Ingredients
1lb raisins, 1lb currants, 1lb sultanas, 4oz glacé cherries, halved, 4oz mixed peel, 4oz whole blanched almonds, 4oz ground almonds, 2 large cooking apples grated, Juice and rind of 1 orange 1/3 cup brandy, 1tsp cinnamon, 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp mixed spice, 1lb Butter softened, 1lb soft brown sugar, 1 & 1/4 lb plain flour, 5 eggs.
In a very large bowl add the raisins, currants, sultanas, cherries, mixed peel, both almonds, apples, orange rind and juice, brandy, cinnamon, nutmeg & mixed spice. Mix well ensuring that all ingredients are well combined. Cover and leave for 12-18 hours.
When you are ready to assemble the cake pre heat your oven to 150 C.
Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy and light using the paddle attachment. You can also do this by hand but just make sure that the butter is very soft. Add the eggs one by one mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of your mixer at regular intervals to make sure that all the butter is well incorporated. Once the eggs are mixed in, add the flour in three parts again scraping down the bowl after each addition.
When you are ready, add the batter to the bowl of fruit and mix carefully to ensure that all of the fruit has been mixed with the batter.
Transfer to the lined tin and flatten with the back of a damp spoon. Cover the top of the cake with the brown paper and place into the oven for 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Check the cake after an hour and if the top or corners are beginning to brown too quickly, cover the top of the cake with an additional layer of tinfoil.
As all ovens are different, check your cake after 3 hours and then every 10 minutes after that. The cake should be firm to the touch but still have a little give. Test the centre of the cake with a toothpick which will come out clean when ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. If you wish at this point you can “feed” your cake. Pierce a number of holes in the top of the cake and drizzle a 1/4 cup of the brandy you used in the soaking process over the top of the cake.
Once fully cooled, remove the cake from the tin and wrap in a double layer of parchment paper. Then wrap tightly in either tinfoil or brown paper.
If you wish you can also ice the cake. I don’t like the icing as I find it too sweet but the cake? I would eat it all on my own given the chance.
If you can make your Christmas cake a minimum of 4 weeks before December 25th – it will give the cake flavours time to develop.
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