Christmas Cake

Ok...I realise I probably haven't updated my blog for at least 6 months, however I was employed and busy for 3! And now I am a student once again, studying towards a Masters in Museum Studies. Hopefully I will update my blog at least on a monthly basis, I have a fair few crafts to share, perhaps DIY Christmas present ideas :). But to start, a Christmas cake recipe. The recipe is a combined mix of several different recipes; including a recipe recorded by my Great Grandmother (her leather bound journal belongs in a museum!). In addition to my great grandmothers journal I also used the Rich Fruit Cake recipes from "Delia Smith's; Complete Illustrated Cookery Course" (1997)  page 490 - 492 and "Mary Berry's; Complete Cookery" (1997) page 476-477.   (updated and edited 08/12/2014)

Christmas cake base before feeding it with brandy

Wrapped up for Christmas

Ingredients:

30oz (1.875 lb) (850g) Dried fruit;

- 14oz  (397g) Currants

- 8oz  (225g) Raisins

- 8oz (225g) Sultanas

8oz (225g) Glacé Cherries (washed, dried and quartered) (Delia suggests 2oz (50g) but I love Glacé Cherries!)

2 oz  (50g)Mixed peel

3 - 4 tbs Brandy (you will need extra to soak the cake once cooked before storing and for feeding)

8 oz (225g) Plain Flour

8 oz (225g) Butter

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

3/4 tsp Ground Mixed Spice

3 oz (75g) Dark Brown Sugar 

5 oz (140g) Soft Light Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

2oz (50g) Chopped Mixed Nuts

1 dessert spoon of Black Treacle

Orange  zest

Lemon zest

Utensils:

2 large mixing bowls

Electric mixer

A deep round 8 inch cake tin

1. Place the Dried Fruit, Glace Cherries, Mixed Peel and Brandy in a large mixing bowl, and leave to soak over night. Cover the bowl with clingfilm.

2. In a second large mixing bowl add the remaining ingredients and beat thoroughly with an electric mixer. Add the soaked fruit to the mixture, ensure it is well combined.

3. It is very important that your cake tin is well greased as the cake takes several hours to cook through. Grease the cake tin with either butter or margarine, line the bottom and sides with a double layer of greaseproof paper and grease the paper also. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared tin and place a disk of greaseproof paper on top of the mixture, this prevents the top from burning. As my Great Grandmother also suggests, wrap a double layer of brown paper around the outside of the tin (about twice as wide as the height of the tin) and attach it by tying a loop of string around the tin. To insulate the tin my mum also suggested sitting the cake on a newspaper (it worked!!).

4. Bake in preheated oven on 140 Degrees (275 F, Gas Mark 1) for 4 hour 30 minutes to 5 hours, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and it feels firm to the touch. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. ( I think my cake took exactly 5 hours, however I used a conventional oven without a fan).

5. When the cake has cooled, remove the circle of greaseproof paper placed on top, pierce the cake in several places and pour over a small amount of brandy while in the tin. Remover the cake from the tin, do not remove the greaseproof paper (the greasy paper help keep the cake moist). Wrap the cake in another layer of greaseproof paper, followed by a layer of foil. Store the cake in an airtight cake tin for up to 3 months, unwrapping every so often to feed the cake 1-2tbsp of brandy to keep it moist. 

Please feel free to play around with this recipe, this is how I put it together. Feel free to play with the dried fruit ingredients, perhaps substitute some of the dried fruit for dried apricots, cranberries or dates. My cake is quite light in colour as I used mainly soft light brown sugar (as this is what we had in the house!!), so you may want to just use dark brown sugar. If you prefer you could also substitute the brandy for sherry or a similar spirit. 

I shall follow this blog with ideas for decoration in December 2012!!! Be sure to check back then :) . Please feel free to ask me any questions about this recipe.   

Update June 23rd 2013
Just found an image (apologies for the poor quality) of my finished cake;

Finished Christmas cake

To decorate you cake in this way you will need;

• Roughly 3 tbsp apricot jam, sieved and warmed
• Icing sugar (so it doesn't stick to your work surface!) 
• 700g Marzipan (almond paste)
• 1-2 packets of icing sugar (also depending on decoration)

Utensils:

• Rolling pin
• Bread knife (useful for lifting the icing and marzipan)
• 1 -2 star shaped cutters
• A pastry brush (for spreading the warm apricot jam onto the cake)
• 1 tbsp of water (for sticking on the stars)
• 1 Christmasy ribbon (cut to fit your cake, leaving a few inches to fold it over and attach with a pin)
• 1 pin (to keep the ribbon in place)

This cake is tasty! It is moist and rich ,but lighter coloured than most Christmas cakes because of the combination of sugars. Try it yourself, and don't forget to share any alterations or ideas :)!

Update December 2013

This year I went to a cake decorating class and this is the end result- I love the glittery Christmas trees on the edge of the cake! The group cake photograph shows the other cake designs created during the classes. 

Update 08/12/2014

This year I made my cake in early November and it took AGES to cook (5-6 hours). After reading through numerous blogs and recipe books I have tweaked my recipe a bit - I basically scaled down my ingredients as I wanted a smaller 8 inch cake. 

This article by Delia Smith is really handy if you want to make a smaller or larger cake http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/scaling-up-cake-recipes.html 

If you want to make a larger 9 inch cake I recommend using Mary Berry's Christmas cake recipe (I love the quantity of spices and Glacé Cherries in her cake) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/classic_christmas_cake_04076

It's all about experimenting so have fun and share your recipe ideas!