Right I am going to bake a CAKE for christmas (never have baked one before) - has anyone got any tips?

[GetOrfAKAMrsUsainBolt]

I am emphatically not a baker, a confident cook but cakes are beyond me.

I want to bake a really lovely cake and feed it with booze. Something nice for me and dd to do together.

I have got several Nigella books and the recipes read nicely however I have made a few things from Nigella which seemed off, so I would like to use a tried and tested recipe.

And when do I make it? Do I make it in October and then throw booze all over it ? And what booze can I use? And how best to ice it (no artistic or dextrous talents).

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Yes bugster - I thinki I'm worng - although some people do it all together.

It is an insanely easy recipe, that's the point ;-) The booze all gets soaked in to the fruit nomnomnomnom!!!

oh and I use a mix of rum, brandy and whisky to soak in as I like all three

Do you reckon amaretto would be too sweet?

I was thinking brandy and amaretto.

I wonder what a cake soaked in malibu would taste like.

I used brandy and amaretto in that mental big cake GOML. Dunno what it tasted like though as we fled the party IN FEAR FOR OUR LIVES>

I can't believe you made that great big cake and then never tasted it.

Was the cake rescued in the end?

I wouldn't have tasted in anyway, what with it being made out of wrong.

I have NO idea what happened to the cake - I have never spoken to the woman involved again.

Oh my god really - what the woman you made the cake for? How bloody horrible and sad.

I have just been to look at Julian Graves for types of dried fruits and its in administration. I had no idea.

I suppose I will have to buy it from Sainsburies, dried fruit from there last time I looked cost a fortune.

Well, they all sat in the pub while this MANIAC terrorised me and my 3 girlfriends. 4 women on their own with no protection while this lunatic rampaged and threatened and shouted and smashed shit up.

No one called the police or did anything - his FIL DID come out and tell us off for "setting him off" [face] So she can get fucked IMO.

Sainsbo's do the basics fruit stuff which is OK for a christmas cake, what with all the booze soaking!

That is a disgrace - how bloody scary. Why on earth didn't they do anything?

Bastards. May god SMITE them.

Good idea re basics fruit. I was thinking though about dried figs and shit and when I last looked that cost a packet for tiny little bags of it.

I aint using candied peel though. I don't even know what that shit is, but it's vile.

Having made my own every now and then, I thought I would be smart and buy the kit from Waitrose so as not to have any waste.
Well, it was crap! Bonedry and tasteless.

One of my closest friends, a very gentle LOVELY, lovely woman was TERRIFIED and locked herself in the pub toilets, and one of the barwomen came in and asked her if she wanted a cab! NO OFFER TO CALL THE POLICE!

None of us had any mobile phone signal. The reason he kicked off at us was because our cab driver was black.

Figs are weird anyway - although I did make a stollen thingie with dried figs and lumps of marzipan in once - everyone said it was delicious because theyre all mad

One key thing is to make sure your oven temp is steady. Mine runs hotter than hell and as Chrimbo cakes need quite a lot of cooking, the top can easily burn before the middle is cooked.

Tips to avoid. double layer of baking paper wrapped around the outside and about 15cm higher than top of cake. Looks mad but helps a lot.

Also create a circle of tin foil to pop over the top if it's starting to look too well done.

Wow. This started as a harmless cake baking thread....... Sorry you had that experience ShirelyKnort (you fooled me with your subtle namechange earlier )

Re: the cost. Depending on the recipe you use, the biggest expense is the fruit. I use Sainsburys Basics butter and flour, and you probably won't need that many eggs, so the rest of it can be quite cheap. A bag of mixed dried fruit would be the cheapest way (check it has no candied peel in it!!!), but maybe you can buy a small packet of something else you fancy - apricots or dates or whatever - to supplement it.

i wouldn't worry too much about the curdling. It matters in something more delicate like a sponge cake, but you can get away with all sorts in a fruit cake.

GetOrfAKAMrsUsainBolt try adding a spoonful of flour when you add the eggs bit by bit and it should stop the curdling.

Ooh - meant to say. The one thing you should spend money on is a decent tin. The really good ones can be a bit eye-watering - £12-15 min - but a worthwhile investment if you're going to make a cake each year. Anything too thin won't withstand the long cooking time.

Oh that's a good tip about the tin - I have only got a crappy silicone one from Poundland. Do you think it would melt to death?

Shirley that is absolutely horrible - it is unforgivable that nobody stuck up for you, you must have felt helpless.

My oven is a psycho - runs really hot and has a fan, often catches me out.

I don't like a dark cake so I use Delias recipe but use only sultanas (no raisins or currants) cherries and chopped whole nuts- almonds,walnuts,brazils, pecans,
Orange and lemon rind rather than chopped candied peel.

I love Amaretto (love almond) so I use that to soak the fruit. I used this recpie for my parents Golden Wedding cake.

TOP TIP make your own marzipan - Delia again. I use almond extract (not the cheap'n'nasty stuff though) and Amaretto. Dead eay and the texture is much nicer.

Royal icing is nicer than alot of the fondant ones (they can taste a bit plastic)

I bought a plastic syringe (you can get them online) to inject the cake after it's cooked.

I wasn't going to make a cake this year but I'm thinking of changing my mind now ....<img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Smile" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/smile-iCO8d7ST.png">

oooh 70s lots of good stuff there - glad amaretto works.

I am intrugued at homemade marzipan, I never knew it was easy to do at home.

1. Put stuff in a bowl

1. Drink all the booze

1. Go to Sainos and buy one like a normal person

Silly billy hully.

All right, I'll drink all the booze, you go to Sainos with the bowl and beg

70, you do it like me, I hate currants so I just add in the extra weight in cherries and sultanas!

I soak my fruit in Grand Marnier - it gives a gorgeous orangey taste to the fruit. Cointreau will do at a pinch but GM gives the loveliest flavour.

One other thing I do since I met DH is throw in a handful of very dark chocolate chips (his mother, who was of Austrian descent, said it was traditional?) - it definitely gives it something extra.

Level the cake mixture and then make a dip in the middle with the back of a spoon about 1 inch deep - this gives you a nice flat top to the cake once it's baked.

Oh, and top tip, put the tin on a baking sheet then wrap folded newspaper around the outside and tie it with string. Stick a piece of folded greaseproof on top of the mixture with a hole the size of a 50p cut in the middle. Stops the cake burning before it's cooked all the way through.

The Instant Royal Icing mix is v. good for snow scenes, not complicated at all if you have an electric mixer and some patience.

Have fun! :)

OOO grand marnier what a great idea. And that is intriguing re the chocolate chips. That'll go very nicely with the grand marnier.

I am going to end up putting everything in this cake, will end up a dog's dinner.