Christmas Cake Club - Anyone who wants to join.......

[UCM]

I am going to buy the fruit to soak this weekend (needs to be in sherry for a week) so I thought I would pass my recipe on to anyone who wants it. But anyone who is making their own cake please feel free to pass on tips or your own recipe, like what alternative alcohol do you use??

6oz sultanas
6oz raisins
4oz currants
4oz glacecherries
3oz mixed peel
1/4 pint sherry
6oz butter
6oz soft brown sugar
4 eggs
4oz SR flour
4oz plain flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1oz ground almonds

Mix together all fruit. pour sherry over and leave to soak for 1 week, covered. Stir frequently until required.

Grease & line a 7 - 8 inch cake tin

Method

Cream butter & sugar until soft & fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour, salt & ground almonds. Drain off any liquid from the fruit and mix fruit into mixture stirring until well blended. Put into prepared tin, smooth top and bake just below middle of oven for 1 hour on gas mark 3. Then cover with foil and reduce oven to gas mark 2 and cook for a further 1.5 hours until firm to touch. Leave to stand in tin until nearly cold. remove from tin, prick well and pour over liquid from dried fruit. Wrap in foil or greaseproof paper and leave to mature until a few days before christmas, then marzipan & ice.

Tips: I don't like almonds so didn't use em. I also put some chocolate liqueur in with the sherry. also I don't like marzipan so didn't ice, but did make one for a relative which I did ice and it was easy. I have never made a christmas cake before and I have to say this recipe works like a dream.

I thought we could have an 'add booze to Christmas Cake night, where you drip some more booze in once a week and drink some as well

Oooo we could all ice them and have a comp with votes and the winner wins all the leftover sherry, cos no one uses it apart from the cake, do they?? Hopefully it will be me and by the time you have all posted your half bottles of sherry to me I will have given birth and can get well & truly wankered on it

Bump. Is no on interested in making a cake with me next weekend.

Might be might be! Recipe sounds good - am in Budapest so have been worried I can't get everything but think I can get most things on your list.

Will double check recipe and supermarket and let you know!

DH will be happy if I buy sherry for cake - he will drink the rest!!!

I'll join you. I haven't made one for four years, as have dodgy DHE cooker which doesn't seem to work as well as it should. I will go and hunt oout my granny's Mrs Beeton book, which is the recipe i used to use

Count me in ...I am in Italy and might not get all of the ingredients.. As its first Xmas cake I am making might as well try this one was looking at Delia and Good Housekeeping.. As for sherry might use a bit of brandy !!
Cant go hunting for ingredients til Monday however

bumping for late afternoon evening crew. We have tomorrow or Sunday to get our fruit and will be making actual cake next weekend.

ucm stands for u cake maker dontcha know

bump

I've bought fruit but nothing to soak it in. I think I will have to be a week late on everything.

Bozza, thats ok, I haven't bought fruit yet

Was trying to buy a bit a week to spread cost. Was going to buy brandy (I have my own recipe) this week. Then butter, sugar and eggs next week. I think I have everything else I need.

And I do marzipan and ice - but not until much nearer the time!

Um am thinking of using rum for a change this year, what do you reckon

oooh - I'll join but I don't have time to do it next weekend!

UCM - the recipe I use if for a Caribbean Christmas Cake and has half a bottle of rum in it - you soak the fruit for 3 days or something

Can I join? Its my 1st Chirstmas as wife/mum so im quite new to all this. My mum always used to make the cake, but my memory is bad and I dont know how. Do I make it soon?

The plan is to buy some fruit this week and soak it in alcohol then make the cake next weekend. I have only made 2 before but they came out very very nice and kept very well. This is a kind of foolproof support thread for christmas cake makers

Wow, I've never heard of soaking the fruit for a week. If you're behindhand on it, you could always do what I do, which is to simmer it very gently for 30m in the sherry (the alcohol is going to burn off in the baking anyway) ane then leave it in the pan overnight, or until cool if you intend to bake the same day.

The only time I drink sherry is generally around Xmas - odd that we always happen to have a bottle then - as it's particularly nice with a piece of Xmas cake and a piece of crumbly cheese.

I'll never win any prizes for the decoration of my cake, because I leave that to ds and dd . A new masterpiece every year.

just bought all my ingredients today - usually soak mine in brandy for 24 hours before! may weigh it all out & soak it for a week, i'm on half term next week, so able to do things. does anyone know where i can get dried egg white? don't have it in the chavtastic tesco near me. will be scouring the streets of cambridge nest sat.

also like the idea of posting finished cakes, although i'm the only one in my family who like marzipan or icing, so go for minimlist around here.

Ooh I always make mine at half-tern but usually only soak fruit overnight.
May get on with it now tho as otherwise can miss the boat if away at end of half term.

Richt, I will buy fruit on next trip to Sainsbo's. I use Delia's recipe btw. It's reliable and yummy too.

BTW after years of hating the taste of ready made fondant icing and it's got transfat in too, I now make it using fondant icing sugar! It's fab tho tricky for modelling (so still not perfect for children's b/day cakes) but fine for a smooth cake covering.

I think the idea behind soaking th efruit for a week is like a rumtopf, the sugar in the fruit ferments and its' very boozy at the end of it.

I'd love to join in too but can't even comtemplate making the cake for another 2 weeks.

btw - if you're going to use ready rolled icing or marzipan - buy it now, it flies off the shelves in december

I would love to join you too.

first xmas at home this year, and am on mat leave till then so am hoping to pull out all the stops this year.

Will you be posting threads to remind me to add brandy etc? sounds like great fun.

sorry to post twice, but have thought of new q's.

is it ok to substitute brandy for the sherry?

do you keep the soaking fruit in the fridge?

is the cooking time for a fan oven?

what a fab idea ucm!

I don't usualy start this earlier but then gets stressful so might join you to make it fun rather than frantic - love the idea of posting to remind to add weekly booze to the cake.

I would use rum or brandy over sherry any day - it has more alcohol content and a richer flavour - is a bit more extravagant but results in lovely deep flavour so would recommend it.

I use a mixture of recipes pinching bits from here and there. I love this part of christmas - the long preparation.

Don't like christmas cake that much but my parents love it so most goes their way.

Love the idea of soaking fruit for a week! I do either over night or the quick method mentioned of simmering it.

off to the supermarket I go!

Going to buy the fruit today - As asked before, is it ok to use brandy? Soak in the fridge? Cover?

I have a recipe here with figs, apricots and prunes aswell...