30 Days of Christmas Cooking Day 9: A Traditional Christmas Cake
Sufficient for an 8 inch round or square tin
Ingredients:
500g/ 1lb sultanas
250g/ 8 oz raisins, seedless
125g/ 4 oz currants
125g/ 4 oz glace cherries, chopped
60g/ 2 oz glace pineapple, chopped
60g/ 2 oz glace peaches or apricots, chopped
60g/ 2 oz mixed peel, chopped
60g/ 2 oz dates, chopped
60g/ 2 oz blanched and chopped almonds
2 tablespoons brandy or rum or sherry
250g/ 8 oz (2 cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
grated rind of 1 orange
60g/2 oz ground almonds
185g 6 oz butter or good quality margarine
185g 6 oz moist brown sugar
4 eggs
extra 2 tablespoons brandy, rum or sherry
Method:
Prepare fruit and nuts as required. Mix together sultanas, raisins, currants, cherries, glace fruits, mixed peel, dates and chopped almonds in a mixing bowl, sprinkle with brandy, cover and leave to stand overnight.
Sieve flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and mixed spice into a bowl, add orange rind and ground almonds. Place butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy in texture. Add beaten eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Using a metal spoon fold in half the flour mixture. Mix in the fruit mixture and finally the remaining flour mixture.
Put the mixture into a lined, greased 8 inch cake tin and smooth with the back of a wet metal spoon, making a slight hollow in the centre.
Place cake in the centre of a moderately slow oven (160°C) for 1 hour, than reduce temperature to slow (150°) and bake for a further 11/2 -2hours or until a warm fine skewer comes out clean.
Allow cake to stand in a cake tin on a cooling rack for 30 minutes then turn out (do not remove paper) and leave to cool on cooling rack. When cold, prick the surface in a few places and pour in extra spirit.
Wrap the cake securely in aluminium foil or in greaseproof paper and brown paper and place in an airtight container to store before decorating and serving.
Preparation of tin:
Line the cake tin with two thicknesses of brown paper first , or 1 thickness of aluminium foil, then thickness of greaseproof paper. Mitre corners and bottom edge of cake carefully to give a good shape. Allow paper to come 1-2 inches above top of tin. Stand tin in centre of square of doubled brown or newspaper, cut in from corners to bottom of tin. Draw paper up around tin and secure in place with string.
Guide to quantities:
½ quantity for a 5 or 6 inch cake tin
11/2 quantities for a 9 inch cake tin
2 quantities for a 10 or 11 inch cake tin
3 quantities for a 12 inch cake tin
Ingredients:
500g/ 1lb sultanas
250g/ 8 oz raisins, seedless
125g/ 4 oz currants
125g/ 4 oz glace cherries, chopped
60g/ 2 oz glace pineapple, chopped
60g/ 2 oz glace peaches or apricots, chopped
60g/ 2 oz mixed peel, chopped
60g/ 2 oz dates, chopped
60g/ 2 oz blanched and chopped almonds
2 tablespoons brandy or rum or sherry
250g/ 8 oz (2 cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
grated rind of 1 orange
60g/2 oz ground almonds
185g 6 oz butter or good quality margarine
185g 6 oz moist brown sugar
4 eggs
extra 2 tablespoons brandy, rum or sherry
Method:
Prepare fruit and nuts as required. Mix together sultanas, raisins, currants, cherries, glace fruits, mixed peel, dates and chopped almonds in a mixing bowl, sprinkle with brandy, cover and leave to stand overnight.
Sieve flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and mixed spice into a bowl, add orange rind and ground almonds. Place butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy in texture. Add beaten eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Using a metal spoon fold in half the flour mixture. Mix in the fruit mixture and finally the remaining flour mixture.
Put the mixture into a lined, greased 8 inch cake tin and smooth with the back of a wet metal spoon, making a slight hollow in the centre.
Place cake in the centre of a moderately slow oven (160°C) for 1 hour, than reduce temperature to slow (150°) and bake for a further 11/2 -2hours or until a warm fine skewer comes out clean.
Allow cake to stand in a cake tin on a cooling rack for 30 minutes then turn out (do not remove paper) and leave to cool on cooling rack. When cold, prick the surface in a few places and pour in extra spirit.
Wrap the cake securely in aluminium foil or in greaseproof paper and brown paper and place in an airtight container to store before decorating and serving.
Preparation of tin:
Line the cake tin with two thicknesses of brown paper first , or 1 thickness of aluminium foil, then thickness of greaseproof paper. Mitre corners and bottom edge of cake carefully to give a good shape. Allow paper to come 1-2 inches above top of tin. Stand tin in centre of square of doubled brown or newspaper, cut in from corners to bottom of tin. Draw paper up around tin and secure in place with string.
Guide to quantities:
½ quantity for a 5 or 6 inch cake tin
11/2 quantities for a 9 inch cake tin
2 quantities for a 10 or 11 inch cake tin
3 quantities for a 12 inch cake tin
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