"One bite of this old-fashioned spice cake will bring back memories. Loaded with raisins and nuts, it tastes extra special drizzled with the rich buttery sauce." —Linda Stemen, Monroeville, Indiana
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No Christmas is complete without a classic Christmas cake
and nothing beats a homemade Christmas cake. I wouldn't say it is our family
tradition as I don't make one every year, but I do when I can as it is so worth
the effort.
November is the perfect time to be baking your Christmas Cake so here’s an easy recipe, bejewelled with apricots, prunes, hazelnuts and plenty
of boozy soaked sultanas. We know the big day is a long way off, but
November is really the best time to follow this Christmas cake recipe as it
allows plenty of time for you to lace the cake with the brandy.
Everyone has their different ways of eating
Christmas cake, once ready for serving, it can be paired with the airy-light
whipped brandy butter, or just some vanilla ice cream or custard to ease the intense richness and fruity flavours of the cake.
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INGREDIENTS
For the soaking:
- 150g raisins
- 100g currants
- 250g sultanas
- 100g dried prunes, chopped
- 100g glacé cherries, cut in half
- 50g mixed peel
- 50g chopped apricots
- 125ml whisky, plus extra to feed
For the cake:
- 125g butter softened
- 125g muscovado sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 130g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 75g ground almonds
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 75g chopped hazelnuts
- 25g crystallized ginger, chopped
For the decoration:
- 1.2 kg marzipan
- 1 kg of white fondant icing
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DIRECTIONS
- Put the dried fruit and peel in a bowl along with the whisky, cover and leave to soak overnight. Give it a good stir before use. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with 2 layers of baking parchment (this protects the cake from burning around the sides).
- Preheat the oven to 140C. In a large bowl, cream together with the butter and sugar until fluffy, then slowly add the eggs, beating well after each addition to prevent the mixture from curdling.
- Mix the sifted flour, baking powder, spice, ground almonds and a pinch of salt and then fold this into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the soaked fruits, and any remaining whisky, the lemon zest, chopped hazelnuts and ginger, and stir to combine.
- Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and smooth the surface. Scoop out a small hollow in the middle to prevent a doming effect.
- Put the cake in the oven for about an hour. After an hour, cover with foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Check to see if the colour is done (when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean) you can check the cake every 10 minutes.
- Let the cake cool inside the tin. Using a skewer, poke a few holes almost all the way through the cake and brush them with more whisky. With the baking parchment still attached, wrap well in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin or a layer of foil, repeating the feeding every week or so until you’re ready to ice just before the big day.
- You can decorate the cake around two weeks before you wish to serve the cake.7. You can decorate the cake around two weeks before you wish to serve the cake. Roll out the Marzipan to a thickness of around 1cm. With a pastry brush, cover the cake with a generous coat of marmalade. drape the marzipan over the cake and adhere to the sides.
- Roll out the fondant icing to a thickness of 1/2 cm (depending on how much icing you like in proportion to the marzipan). Paint the marzipan with more marmalade then using your rolling pin as a guide, drape the fondant over the cake. Smooth the surface and make sure the icing has securely adhered to the marzipan.
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