Christmas Cake

[GinotPrigio]

Who's started their traditional Christmas Cake yet? I want to make one this year, first time. Any recommedations for recipes online?

I'm going to make it this saturday.

Last year I bought one of those kits by Delia in Waitrose but it seemed a waste and I would rather just buy it myself. I was thinking of using her recipe though because the cake was lovely, just i don't need to pay for the privilege of having my ingredients pre-measured.

I hate mixed peel so won't be including that, but would love to hear of any other recommended recipes.

Thanks, I might try to find Delia's recipe online!

I have done Delia's Creole cake. I really like it.

I do Delias Christmas cake every year. It never fails but ignore her timings. She says not to look at it till 4 hrs are up - this year mine was cooked after 3.5hrs so would have been burnt after 4.

Having done some googling and reading about issues with timings, I did remember spending time faffing about whether the thing was cooked or not last year.

I think I'm instead going to try this one:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/850633/asyoulikeit-christmas-cake

I like that its flexible, seems to have good reviews and whilst I'm a reasonable cook I hate baking so I want something reliable. I don't know my oven well enough to manage timings for a cake.

Is this the Delia recipe?

Tig that Good Food recipe looks good too. Nice and simple!

That's the one Grinot.

Just check it after 3hrs, when the middle springs back up its cooked. Mine had to go back in the oven for another half an hour but certainty didn't need 4hrs.

Great thanks!

I'll be back here in a couple of months asking about marzipan and icing!!

TigOldBitties I made the good food one last year and it came out well. I don't like fruit cake generally so wanted one that I could choose ingredients I liked.

I used apricot and cranberry for fruit, almonds for nuts and amaretto for booze. Very moist.

I'll definitely be making it again this year!

That's good to hear DT.

As I said I'm not really a baker. I'm generally from the they sell that shit in a shop School of thought but I do like to make the effort at Christmas.

Simple is good, moist is good and being able to exclude candied peel is even better! Good food cake it shall be.

Nigella's recipe from her Christmas book is awesome, very moist and boozy . Everyone comments on how good it tastes. Not sure if recipe is available online though.

Nigella's recipe from her Christmas book is awesome, very moist and boozy . Everyone comments on how good it tastes. Not sure if recipe is available online though.

I use an adaptation of the Delia recipe.

I use caster sugar not brown
Sultanas but no raisins/currants
Cherries
Lemon and orange grated rind (fine) not candied peel
Walnuts, almonds, pecans

Amarretto not sherry

It makes a nice light textured light coloured cake.
I usually marzipan /ice half (Delia marzipan with Amarretto) and half plain to scoff with Wensleydale

Made mine today - Delia's recipe with some changes depending on what fruit I had in!

The whole house smells deliciously Christmassy.

Made mine today, I chucked in a bit more alcohol than the recipe so ended up cooking it for a tad longer, but it's come out really well.

I guess the test will be when we eat it but so far I'd recommend the good food recipe.

DH and DS made a Waitrose kit cake today. It cost the princely sum of £7 and quite frankly looked and smelt bloody lovely.
The puritan in me is aghast at buying a cake kit but I couldn't have bought the ingredients for that and there would probably have been genuine bloodshed between them if they had to weigh everything themselves they nearly came to blows over the greasing of the tin

For all of you thinking of doing Delias one , have a look here

I've used Waitrose this year too. Mainly because 2 year old DD was helping and she enjoyed tipping the bags out. She has limited patience with the concept of weighing ingredients.

Ps it didn't feel like a cake kit because everything was separate so you still make it the same but without weighingand 1kg of left over saltanas

I used the Good Food recipe to make mine at the weekend. I was a bit unsure of cooking time as the comments all seem to suggest that it takes a lot longer. I also had a larger cake tin so increased the ingredients by 25%. Fingers crossed I cooked it long enough! It's had its first feed of alcohol already and have stored it away now.

Tesco do 1kg bags of mixed currents, sultanas, raisins, mixed peel so you don't have to buy separate bags and be left with loads of waste.

I'm adapting a Marguerite Patten recipe this year. The dried fruit is soaking in whiskey at the moment, and I'll bake it on Saturday.

Thank goodness I looked at this thread this morning. My Delia recipe cake is in the oven now...been in 2.5 hours so if I check it soon hopefully it won't have burnt!

mine was in for about 4 hours (delia recipe) and was totally fine. I'm sure everyone's ovens are different though

I have had hit and miss cake experiences based solely on cooking time - this year I checked after 3 hours, then 3.5 and every 15 mins after that just to be sure. I have movef a lot and each oven is different - last year's was a gan oven godawful things they are!

I follow Delia's recipe, bake it the first weekend of October, so it's already had three sloshes of brandy. OMFG the smell I decorate with almonds as DH doesn't like marzipan and there are only two of us I don't buy a block.of marzipan to put in the fridge and nibble on the run up to Christmas not not me

Gan oven?? Fan oven.
Damn bus is too jiggly!