Mary Berry's Victorian Christmas cake

The queen of cakes, shows you how easy it is to knock up a light and traditional Christmas cake, packed with luxury dried fruit and nuts

Ingredients

You can also use a little apricot jam to brush over the fruit cake to glaze if you wish

• 350g (12 oz) red or natural glacé cherries
• 225 g (8 oz) can of pineapple in natural juice
• 350 g (12 oz) ready-to-eat dried apricots
• 100 g (4 oz) blanched almonds (skins removed)
• Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
• 350 g (12 oz) sultanas
• 250 g (9 oz) self-raising flour
• 250 g (9 oz) caster sugar
• 250 g (9 oz) softened butter
• 75 g (3 oz) ground almonds
• 5 large eggs

To decorate:
Blanched almonds
Red or natural glacé cherries
Glacé pineapple (available from health-food shops)
100 g (4 oz) sifted icing sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C fan/140°C/gas mark 3. Grease a 23 cm (9 in) deep round cake tin then line the base and sides with a double layer of baking parchment.
2. Cut the cherries into quarters, put in a sieve and rinse under running water then drain well. Drain and roughly chop the pineapple, then dry the pineapple and cherries very thoroughly on kitchen paper. Snip the apricots into pieces. Roughly chop the almonds. Place the prepared fruit and nuts in a bowl with the grated lemon rind and sultanas and gently mix together.
3. Measure the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and beat well for 1 min until smooth. Lightly fold in the fruit and nuts then turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Level the surface and decorate the top with blanched whole almonds, halved glacé cherries and pieces of glacé pineapple.
4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 2¼ hours or until golden brown. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Cover the cake loosely with foil after 1 hour to prevent the top becoming too dark.
5. Leave to cool in the tin for 30 mins then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack. Mix the icing sugar with a little water, and drizzle over the cake to glaze.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

For the cakes

200g/7oz dried fruit mix*
25g/1oz ground almonds
50g/2oz finely chopped glace ginger
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
1 tsp mixed spice*
2 tsp fresh orange juice
To decorate50g/2oz ready made almond marzipan*
75g/3oz ready to roll icing*
Icing sugar for dusting*
GF cake decorations*

Method:

1. Put all ingredients except orange juice in food processor and chop finely
2. Transfer them to a bowl and add enough orange juice to make the mixture stick
3. Using your hands, form 8 small cakes out of the mixture
4. Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out both the marzipan and the icing
5. Use shaped cutters or a knife to cut shapes into the marzipan and icing.
6. Drape the icing in the opposite way to the marzipan, creating a lovely colour contrast
7. Decorate the icing with your gluten free cake decorations and store them in an airtight box until needed.

Jamaican Christmas Cake

The following recipe will make two 9" round cakes:

FRUITS:

2 lbs. Raisins
1/2 lb. Prunes
1/2 lb. Dates
1 lb. Mixed Fruit
Red Wine to soak fruits
6 tablespoons Jamaican white rum

1/2 lb. Cherries - DO NOT SOAK with fruits named above. The unsoaked cherries will remain red and attractive to look at in the cake after baking. Add to mixture after soaked fruits have been added.

With the exception of 1/2 lb raisins, grind all fruits and soak in wine and white rum. Add the 1/2 lb. raisins that was not ground.

It is best to have your fruits soaking well in advance. Some Jamaicans will have this fruit mixture soaking sometimes, even for 1 year! But if you need it quickly, you can still get a nice cake the same day that it is soaked!

Chop up 1/2 lb. cherries but do not add to the fruit mixture. Add these cherries at time of baking.



1 lb. Butter
3/4 lb. dark Sugar
10 Eggs
1 teaspoon Almond Essence
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Rose Water (Optional)
1 lb. Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 tablespoons Mixed Spice (NOT Allspice!)
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
Browning (Optional)
Sherry

METHOD

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Line the sides and bottom of two 9" baking pans with a double layer of greaseproof paper and set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs 2 at the time creaming after each addition. After adding the eggs, you will have to move the butter, sugar and egg mixture to a larger bowl and prepare to manually do the balance of the recipe by hand.
• Add vanilla and almond essence to the butter and sugar mixture.
• If you use browning, pour a very small amount in mixture and stir. Note: Be very careful with browning! It makes your cake too dark!
• Add baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon to the flour.
• Pour butter and egg mixture in a larger bowl.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture by folding it in.
• Continuously add flour mixture to butter mixture.
• Add soaked fruits to flour/egg mixture and thoroughly fold it in.
• Add cut-up cherries to mixture. Leave a few cherries for decorating top of cake.
• Pour mixture in the 2 lined 9" baking pans.
• Bake in pre-heated oven until done. Use a knife to test for doneness, etc. The knife should come out clean.
• Stick cakes all over with a toothpick. Sprinkle sherry over hot baked cakes.
• Enjoy!

Christmas Cake

 

For a rich, moist fruit cake, make it in plenty of time as it improves with keeping. This recipe is best made 2-3 months before Christmas, then fed regularly with brandy every 2-3 weeks. Begin the day before you're going to bake the cake by soaking the dried fruit in brandy and orange juice. Leave overnight to ensure that it is plump and moist when mixed into the cake. Marzipan and ice the cake up to 2 weeks in advance. Keep it in an airtight container, or loosely wrapped in foil, ready to decorate a couple of days before Christmas.

Ingredients

• 500g pack Waitrose Australian Sultanas
• 250g pack Waitrose Australian Lexia Raisins
• 250g pack Waitrose Ready to Eat Dried Apricots, quartered
• 200g tub Waitrose Italian Cut Mixed Peel
• 200g tub Waitrose Glacé Cherries from Provence, halved
• 100g Waitrose Ready to Eat French Prunes, quartered
• Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• 100ml brandy
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g Waitrose Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
• 5 medium eggs
• 200g pack Waitrose Walnut Pieces
• 300g plain flour, sifted

• To Decorate
• 16 Waitrose Glacé Cherries from Provence
• 2 medium egg whites
• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• 750g pack Waitrose Golden Marzipan
• 400g (approx) icing sugar
• Icing sugar for dusting
• 100g Waitrose Brazil Nut Kernels
• 100g Waitrose Macadamia Kernels
• 12 physalis, papery husks removed
• 6 dried figs, halved
• 4-6 cinnamon sticks

Method

1. Place all the fruit in a large bowl, stir in the orange zest and juice, and the brandy. Cover and leave overnight. When you are ready to make the cake, preheat oven to 150°C, gas mark 2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition (if the mixture begins to curdle, add a little of the flour). Add the soaked fruit, any liquid and the nuts and stir well. Carefully fold in the flour with a wooden spoon. Prepare the tin (see Cook's Tips).
2. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it evenly and making sure there are no air pockets. Level the top carefully as the tin will be very full. Bake for 3½-4 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the cake starts to over brown, cover the top with a piece of baking parchment. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Store in a cool, dry place, wrapped in greaseproof paper and a double thickness of foil. Feed the cake with brandy every 2-3 weeks until you are ready to marzipan and ice it (see Cook's Tips).
3. Warm the jam with 1 tbsp water in a small pan. Press through a sieve into a bowl. Invert the cake onto a board or serving plate. Lightly knead 50g marzipan to soften it slightly, then roll small pieces into thin sausage lengths and use to fill any gaps between the cake and board or plate. Brush the glaze over the top and sides. Roll out the remaining marzipan to a 35cm round. Lift it over the cake and ease to fit around the sides, making it as neat as possible around the base. Trim off the excess with a sharp knife.
4. Using sharp scissors, cut off the blunt end of the wooden skewer to make it 19cm long. Roll out the reserved 50g marzipan to 5mm thickness and cut out 6-8 star shapes using the cutter, dipped in icing sugar to prevent sticking. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Lightly toast the stars under a moderate grill until just beginning to colour. Watch carefully as they brown very quickly. Leave to cool slightly, then re-point the tips of the stars with your fingers if they've lost their shape. Push the pointed end of the skewer into one of the stars. Set aside.
5. Lightly beat the egg whites to break them up. Gradually beat in enough icing sugar to make a thin, glossy paste that very slowly loses its shape when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. Turn the paste onto the cake and spread with a palette knife, easing it gently over the sides so it runs in some areas almost to the base. Press a physalis onto the wooden skewer so it meets the star, then press the skewer down through the centre of the cake.
6. Arrange some of the nuts in a circle over the top of the cake, about 5cm from the edge. Pile the nuts, figs cherries and remaining physalis onto the centre of the cake to form a conical shape around the skewer. Use the icing left in the bowl to secure the fruit and nuts in position. If the icing has been used up, make a paste with icing sugar and water. Secure the remaining marzipan stars around the fruit and nuts along with the cinnamon sticks. Dust the cake with icing sugar to finish. Store in a cool place.

Cook's tips

To prepare a 23cm round cake tin, line the base and sides with a double thickness of baking parchment, cut so it comes 5cm above the edge of the tin. Fold a double band of brown paper around the outside of the tin and secure with kitchen string. Stand the tin on several sheets of newspaper or brown paper. Wrapping the outside of the cake tin with brown paper helps to keep the cake moist, as it stops the edges drying out before the centre is cooked. Likewise, covering the top with a piece of folded parchment paper will stop the top becoming too brown before the centre is cooked.

If a dome forms on the cake during cooking, slice off the top, just before marzipaning and decorating, to make a flat surface.

To feed the cake every 2-3 weeks, prick the surface with a fine skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp Waitrose Brandy. Do not overfeed or it will become soggy and pudding-like.

The alcohol that the fruit is soaked in evaporates during cooking. If you would prefer not to use any alcohol, soak the fruit overnight in an extra 100ml freshly squeezed orange juice instead of brandy.

This dish contains semi-cooked egg and therefore is not suitable for the young, pregnant women, elderly people, or those whose immune system is weak.

Variation

Decorating ideas:
Candlelit cake: cover the cake with marzipan, then 750g white Regal Ice using the same method as for the marzipan. Arrange a circle of white night lights on top. Dust sprigs of rosemary and bay leaves with icing sugar and tuck around the night lights. Take care when using candles, they should never be left unattended or placed where they can be knocked over.

Fruit and nut cake: cover the cake with marzipan. Melt 4 tbsp apricot jam with 1 tbsp brandy and press through a sieve. Use to secure the contents of a 250g bag Waitrose Exotic Fruit and Nut Mix around the top edge of the cake, along with a handful of fresh cranberries. Drizzle any remaining glaze over the fruit and nuts. Tie a red ribbon around the side.

Nóirín’s Christmas Cake

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.

Merry and Bright: Pomegranate Christmas Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract (clear if you have it)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 (I used 3) 9" cake pans with vegetable shortening. Line with parchment and grease paper. Lightly flour the pans; set aside.Combine milk, egg whites and vanilla extract in a small bowl.  Whisk briefly and set aside.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Add softened butter and mix on low speed until the mixture has the appearance of wet sand.

Set aside 1/2 cup of the egg white/milk mixture.  Pour the remaining egg white mixture into the flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes.  Add the 1/2 cup of egg white/milk mixture and beat for 1 minute more. Do not over mix.

Divide batter evenly amongst pans.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Let cakes cool completely before adding syrup.Pomegranate syrup:1 16 oz. bottle (2 cups) pomegranate juice
1 cup granulated sugar

Combine juice and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Heat on medium high until sugar has dissolved and mixture is bubbling.  Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the mixture has become syrupy and thickened.Let syrup cool slightly.Using a pastry brush, coat cake tops with syrup and stack.  Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in cake, making sure to push through all 2 (or 3) layers.  Pour remaining syrup into the punched holes.   Allow cake to stand for 15 minutes before frosting.

Frosting:4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 sticks butter softened
16 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
Arils from one fresh pomegranate *optional

Combine sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Add cream cheese and vanilla.  Mix until thick and thoroughly combined.  Use immediately to frost cake. Garnish with arils if desired.

Notes: The pomegranate garnish is 1/3 cup ready made fondant mixed with red food coloring, then coated in red sanding sugar and plain granulated sugar.  The leaves are made from green fondant also.

Over time, the syrup in the cake will darken to a purplish/red color.  Still very pretty and yummy all the same.

Time to Bake Your Christmas Cake

So you’ve been lovingly stirring your boozy fruit for the past few weeks and enjoying inhaling the fumes as you do so! Now it’s time to turn that jar of loveliness into this years Christmas Cake. If you missed the Boozy Fruit post you can find it here, get going with it now, even a weeks soaking is going to create some Christmas Magic!

Ingredients:

225g butter, softened
150g soft brown sugar
75g dark brown sugar
2 tbsps treacle
2 tsps mixed cake spice
285g plain flour
5 large eggs, beaten
1 x Boozy Fruit already prepared.
150ml brandy for feeding.
This recipe will make an 8″ round or 7″ square Christmas Cake, if you prefer you can bake two 4″ cakes.
First, the top tips to stop your cake ending in disaster:

• If you haven’t prepared your boozy fruit do it now.   Soak it for at least a week, more if you can.  Once you’ve soaked it there may still be excess liquid with the fruit, heat the mixture gently in a pan until the majority of the liquid has gone, then continue with the recipe.
• If you’re outside the UK can’t get hold of treacle, molasses is a good substitute.
• Make sure your tin is deep sided, a shallow tin won’t do the trick here!
• Be sure of your oven temperature, a long slow bake is what is called for to stop the cake from drying out too much and baking evenly.
• Position your cake on a shelf about 1/3rd of the way up from the base of the oven.
• When it comes to feeding the baked cake, you can miss this out completely if you would rather, wrap the cake well as described and set aside to mature.  The flavours of the cake still intensifies and the fruit in the cake will soften and be delicious.
• If you would rather you can feed with apple juice or tea for a non-alcoholic cake.
• If you don’t have a tin big enough to store your cake it will be fine wrapped well with baking paper and foil alone.

So, we’re sorted, on to the recipe
Preheat oven to a low 150c Fan/170c/Gas Mark 3.
Double line an 8” tin with baking paper.

Wrap a thick layer of newspaper around the outside of the tin and secure with string.  If you have children in your house this might be an epic adventure especially as it’s just been conker season!

Start by creaming together the butter and the sugars.

Add the treacle and beat until combined.

Add the beaten eggs a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.

After the eggs are fully incorporated sift over the flour and cake spice and fold into the mixture.

Finally remove the cinnamon stick from the boozy fruit you lovingly prepared a few weeks ago add and mix until the fruit is distributed evenly.

Add the mixture to the prepared tin and bake in the oven for approx 2 hours. Check after one hour and if the top is browning too quickly add a loose sheet of baking paper to the top. (If you’re making 4″ cakes they will need to be baked for approx 1 hour)

The cake is ready when the top is a dark golden brown and when inserted a skewer comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
Once the cake is cold remove it from the tin removing the baking paper from the sides of the cake but keeping the base disc in place, this will help keep in moisture as the cake is fed in the run up to Christmas.
On your worksurface lay out two large pieces of foil, one horizontally and one vertically. On top of that place two large sheets of baking paper. Finally position the cake in the middle.

Using a skewer pierce 30-40 holes in the top of the cake, only ¾’s of the depth of the cake though so that the brandy doesn’t run straight through!

I like to put the feeding brandy into a jam jar, that way it’s to hand whenever it’s time to feed the cake.

Using a pastry brush, brush over the entire top of the cake with the brandy. You are looking to add 1 or 2 teaspoons of brandy in each feed.
Once fed, gather up the baking paper and seal in the cake, repeating with the foil layer. No place the whole lot in a suitable container, I use an old Christmas sweetie tin which is just the perfect size!

Place the container into a cupboard or the pantry, it needs to be out of direct sunlight somewhere dry but don’t forget about it. Feed it every 3-4 days for the next few weeks or until the cake won’t absorb anymore.
Christmas cake – done! (well for now, I’ll be back at the end of November with some easy decorating ideas and maybe a tricky one too!)

Rich moist all-purpose fruit cake

Ingredients

• 80g/2¾oz golden syrup
• 80g/2¾oz black treacle
• 50g/1¾oz honey
• 250g/9oz dark brown sugar
• 200ml/7fl oz double cream
• 15g/½oz (about 2 tbsp) mixed spice
• 250g/9oz unsalted butter
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 6 medium free-range eggs
• 350g/12oz currants
• 350g/12oz raisins
• 350g/12oz chopped pitted prunes
• 350g/12oz glacé cherries or more dried fruit
• 500g/1lb 2oz strong white bread flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• brandy, whisky or orange juice, to finish

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/335F/Gas 3 and line a 25cm/10in round deep cake tin with non-stick paper. Place the syrup, treacle, honey, sugar, cream and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the butter in pieces and stir until melted, then add the orange and lemon extracts (or zest)
2. Beat in the eggs until smooth, then stir in the fruit. Mix the flour and soda together, then stir this through evenly. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 2-2½ hours, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then carefully remove from the tin.
3. When cold, spoon the top liberally with brandy, whisky or boiled orange juice, wrap well and leave for 3-4 days before icing.

Christmas cake

This traditional Christmas cake pulls out all the stops - if you have the time, feed it with brandy in the run up to Christmas.

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g/7oz butter
• 200g/7oz dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 1 tbsp marmalade
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence
• 4 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 800g/1¾lb mixed dried fruits
• 100g/3½oz chopped mixed peel
• 150g/5oz glacé cherries, halved
• 100g/3½oz blanched almonds, chopped
• brandy

To decorate

• 200g/7oz marzipan
• 1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
• royal icing
• 3 free-range egg whites
• 600g/1lb 5oz icing sugar, sieved
• 1½ tsp liquid glycerine - optional
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation method

1. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2. Grease a 20cm/8inch round or an 18cm/7inch square cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
2. Sieve the flour, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon into a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and then mix in the sugar, treacle, marmalade and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
4. Mix the eggs a little at a time into the mixture adding a tablespoon of flour mixture with the last amount.
5. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until well mixed and then mix in the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries and the almonds.
6. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
7. Bake in the oven for 3 hours and then test with a skewer. If not ready bake for up to another hour testing every 20 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
9. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
10. Once cool, make a few holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 3-4 tbspof brandy. Let the brandy soak into the cake.
11. Store the cake wrapped in foil and in an airtight tin or plastic container, holes side up.
12. OPTIONAL: For a rich and moist cake, spoon over a few tablespoons of brandy every week until you are ready to ice and decorate your cake.
13. To decorate the cake, place the cake on a foil board or cake plate.
14. Dust your hands and the work surface with a little icing sugar and knead the marzipan until soft.
15. Roll out half the marzipan to fit the top of the cake and roll out the rest in strips to fit around the sides of the cake.
16. Brush the cake all over with the warmed apricot jam and then place the marzipan on top and around the cake.
17. Cover the cake with a clean tea towel and then leave in a cool place for at least one day.
18. To make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites adding the sugar at intervals. Beat well until the icing reaches soft peaks. Add the glycerine if using and the lemon juice.
19. Spread icing all over cake either flat iced using a clean ruler or by forming soft peaks. Decorate with Christmas ornaments.