Am I too late to start a Christmas cake?

[Clandy]

That's it really! Have I left it too late? Any superb recipes if I haven't as me and bil have decided today to do a cake bake off on Christmas Day!

I have no idea but bumping as I'm
Interested!

Not too late! I have done my fruit but not the cake. Google Delia's Irish whiskey cake it doesn't need weeks of post bake alcohol!!

No not too late at all. As an alternative though how about the nigella chocolate Christmas cake?

N definately not.
I make and sell cakes and am going to make my christmas orders next week.

Never too late - there's a Delia recipe with mincemeat that she says you can do on Christmas Eve

I use an adaptation of the Delia recipe (it's on lots of threads here- I can't do all this new fangled linking)

But: don't cook it for the legth of time she says. I increased all the ingredients to make a 12"x12" (in my divided tin so it was four 6"x6" cakes) lined with silicone paper and protected with brown. ) It took about 2 hrs and a bit.

Soak the fruit for 2 days, wrap the cake well after and feed regularly.

It'll be fab
(If you want to marzipan and ice you're meant to leave the marzipan to dry out before icing, but lifes too busy for that)

No! Stir up Sunday is the trad day to make the cake, and that's the last Sunday before advent, so this Sunday.

Start soaking your fruit.

I was going to say Delia has a last minute cake recipe but 70 beat me to it!! I made it last year in the second week of December. It was lovely!!

Freezing a cake helps mature it too.

Ooh brilliant ideas and tips thanks knew I could count on mumsnet and bil can't will be looking and delia and nigella then unless you fancy adding me to your Christmas orders

I'm going to go out at lunchbreak and get the fruit for Delia's creole cake (though it will undergo significant tweaking). I wasn't going to bother making a cake this year but it just doesn't feel right!

I'll start soaking the fruit tonight and bake it on Sunday, basking in the traditionalness : ) (that's a word, right?)

I'm in the middle of making the nigella chocolate fruit cake today. It smells LUSH!!