If you make your own Christmas cake

[Pinkyyy]

Share some wisdom!

I'm going to attempt my first ever Christmas cake. Is now a good time to make it? I'd say I was a half decent baker but have never tried anything like this before. Would love some advice on how to make it a success!

You can make your cake whenever you like. My friend used to make two, and feed one of them monthly until the following Christmas.

I used Delia’s recipe every year and it works every time. I usually fold the edges of the ‘lid’ a bit to create a rim to stop is blowing away. I’ve now been inspired to create an Ocado order and get it going this weekend.

@CMOTDibbler I do the same!

I don't know why but I find the term 'feeding it' so funny. I feel like I'm going to form a bind with it and never want to cut it!

Bond*

Oooh this has got me excited for Christmas baking now! I swear by Nigellas traditional Christmas cake (no prunes!) - I make it every year and it works every single time. DH loves it too. I usually make mine end of Nov but might do it end of Oct this year and see how that goes.

@Honeyroar
I usually keep it in my tummy - and then have to make another one!

I always 'accidentally' eat it.

I use this one. Tried and tested over many years, you can’t really go wrong.
You don’t need to make it this early , I usually make early December.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1160/simmerandstir-christmas-cake

@CMOTDibbler I need more information on your approach and recipe!
I too, am thinking of baking again, after a lull of ...ooh.. only 20 plus years.

I am a Delia superfan but I don't use her Christmas cake recipe anymore. I use this James Martin boiled fruit one. Much quicker, much easier & more moist (without adjusting the recipe). I love it! I think you can make it anytime from now to mid November.

And can I tag on a related question?
Is it worth making your own mincemeat for mince pies?

I soak my fruit well ahead but usually make it as per tradition on stir up Sunday at end of November.
I use an old Mrs Beetons recipe handed down by my grandmother.

With de kuyper cherry brandy.

Definitely worth making your own mincemeat and very easy. I add in nuts and additional fruit such as cherries.

Mary Cadogan’s cake (the one I posted the link to) is almost as good as my granny’s.
She used to make them for the family in October , but I couldn’t wait until Christmas and used to sneak into the tin and cut slivers from the edge not sure if anyone ever noticed

My approach is to weigh my fruit out (and I usually do 4 cakes for various things so theres a lot of it, and I include dried apricots) put into sterile jars and add a lot of booze. I then turn the jars daily or as I remember, and just let them get on with it. Last year I used Glenmorangie in the cakes.

I'll have to take a picture of the recipe - its from a cake decorating book, but once cooked I just leave them double wrapped in foil.

Years ago I did a recipe from Prima that started with a pint of Southern Comfort and dried tropical fruit and you soaked the fruit for a month then liquidised half the fruit. It was like doing cake shots and was not family friendly, but I was frequently asked for the Jack Daniels version I made up from it by friends. Only cake I've ever had that had to have a 'no driving' label

I’ve still got some of last years left so I did say I wouldn’t make one this year.

But I will.

How do you manage to have cake leftovers? I’m lucky if there’s still any left by the end of January!

Personally I think you should make one now and eat it in a few weeks to check it’s ok before making one for Christmas! But then I have a PhD in inventing excuses for eating and drinking what i shouldn’t!

I made one last year for the first time I used the James Martin Make and mature cake. It was delicious (though this year I don't think I'll try and make my own marzipan again!)

Yes, it's worth making mincemeat (and the Christmas pudding). I do both, using Delia's recipes, and also make a Christmas cake. I steam the pudding in my ancient slow cooker, which is really easy, as it needs no attention at all while cooking, and reheat it there too on Christmas Day, which saves a ring on the hob. The mincemeat is extremely straightforward to make. Both mincemeat and pudding take a bit of work assembling the ingredients, doing a little bit of chopping/zesting, weighing them, mixing, but that's about as hard as it gets. Both taste so much better than ready-made!

The cake is the trickiest technically, but it's not that hard really, you just need to be systematic, make sure you've put in all the ingredients and take care with the lining of the tin, not baking at too high a temperature, letting it cool in the tin before you try to take it out, storing it carefully (wrapped in parchment in a tin or tub with a well-fitting lid).

I don't care for icing and can take or leave marzipan so I make this recipe: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/food/recipe46.shtml

I don't make mini cakes and I don't bother separating the eggs. It's incredibly moist and rummy. We don't usually get round to it until the New Year but it really helps with the post-Christmas anti-climax!

I've always had very good results with Delia but I tried this for the first time last year and loved it. Slightly lighter but absolutely delicious.

beesbakery.co.uk/delicious-christmas-cake-recipe/#sthash.jjC86NCi.dpbs

I do mine at October half term because DS2 always liked to read out the recipe, reinforce the instructions "Fold DON'T beat" and still do it now that he's 26 and left home. Delia all the way, loads of protection from greaseproof paper and bake lower and slower than you think. Soak the fruit in brandy for 48 hours before making the cake and feed at regular intervals up to Xmas.

An oven thermometer can be helpful, especially if your oven is a bit unreliable. Also delia here, it tastes like my Grandma’s (and was probably the recipe she used) :)

Both taste so much better than ready-made!

Totally agree about mincemeat and the pudding.
A few years ago, DH laughed at the effort going into the pudding and suggested I could buy a perfectly good one as usual. Once he tried the homemade version, he held me by the wrist and said 'you know you are going to have to make this every year till we die now'.
I don't mind.

Am also going to try Mary Berry's Christmas cake bites this year too.

www.hellomagazine.com/cuisine/recipes/2015121428769/mary-berry-christmas-cake-bites/