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

I'd like to join please! I made my first one this year....have a bad feeling I put too much whiskey in it though.

No such thing as too much whiskey IMO ludaloo

I've just taken mine out of the oven after a mammoth 4 hours .... it looks great! Little bit cracked on the top but I'll be pouring in the brandy through the cracks and then when it comes to icing will probably cut off the top to make it flat so it doesn't matter. The whole house smells Christmassy now ... which is always odd as it is springtime here now and I still haven't got used to it after nearly 5 years!

I was thinking I might not ice the two halves actually, might do a nutty top (I think Delia has a recipe?) ... for a change ... I don't like marzipan either and only ever eat the cake, leaving the icing and almond paste.

Littleshebear.....I tried the whiskey recipe from a thread on here...it was a recipe from a Tesco magazine I think???? Sorry....don't know how to do the link thing! Here are the ingredients though.....
110g glace cherries
50g whole blanched almonds
110g whole mixed candied peel finely chopped
350g sultanas
335g currants
350g raisins
1 lemon zest grated
1 orange zest grated
65ml Irish Whiskey
225g butter
6 medium eggs
1 tsp ground mixed spice
275g plain flour
1 large bramley apple..peeled, cored,and grated.

Mix cherries,almonds,mixed peel,dried fruit and the zests together and soak in half of the whiskey for an hour (or however long you wish)

pre heat oven to 180c

cream butter til soft
add sugar and beat til light and fluffy
whisk eggs and add bit by bit
mix in spice and flour
stir gently until all ingredients are mixed well
add apple to the fruit and stir all together
add fruit to mixture and stir well

This mixture is aimed for a 9"round tin
Cooks for 1 hour in the middle of the oven with top covered.
Increase heat to 150c bake for further 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 hours.
hope that is of help

Ghosty, mine was cracked quite badly on top too, but it has closed up a bit now it has settled.
I can just imagine the smell.....yummy!!

Oh yes and while I am here, how are all yours stored??
I've wrapped mine in greaseproof paper and put it in a big roung tupperware box and shoved it in my teatowel drawer! Is it ok there do you reckon (have no cupboard space big enough anywhere)

I will wrap mine in greaseproof paper, put it in a large tupperware airtight container and put it at the bottom of the larder cupboard. I will open it once a week and pour liberal amounts of brandy over it while sniffing the fumes and swigging from the bottle

Tis never tooo late to do it. I am prob going to bake mine tomorrow, I had a currant this morning that has been soaking in Sherry since monday, this one little currant blew my head off, I haven't found anything else to go in this week, so I might leave it soaking a bit longer.

I will be putting mine in an old roses tin just for this occasion and shoving on top of cupboards

For those of you who haven't joined in yet. You only have 11 weeks. START NOW!!!!!! [GRIN]

Why do I get the feeling that my fruit is going to be soaking for more than a week....?

I have it sat there but just can't imagine when I am going to get a spare hour or so to bake it!

Will catch up with everyone else some time next week.

me again... just thought I'd share my latest find...
www.cakecraftshop.com
I bought all the decorations for my cake from there...brilliant !

GQM, thats ok as the booze will ferment I think and you will get pissed on a currant

i am inspired! what's the best sherry to use? sweat?

actually sweet not sweat would be better i am sure

Was going to do mine this weekend, but will need to wait until next week now. Haven't made one for a couple of years so hope it works

pmsl at sweat . How do they "store" for that long and why don't they go off??

ghosty you are in NZ aren't you?? Is it warmish there? Would I be able to do this in Australia?

Oooh. I'm in. I'll have to do it next weekend, but great idea UCM. I think I'll do one for us and one for the family we're staying with over Christmas.

Hope this doesn't propagate the 'English are booze-hounds' myth by getting them all legless tho

Don't suppose there's a christmas chutneys thread yet is there?

Doing mine next weekend!

ok, soaked the fruit this week, and made sure i sampled it as i topped up the brandy .
dh has taken dd swimming, as i have a migraine, but after a couple of hours kip, and more migraleve, i managed to make the cake (with more sampling), and now my house is beginning to smell of christmas!
i have also put a small cake in the oven for dh to have with some tea when he gets back from swimming!

Mymama ... I am sure you can do it in Aus ... just make sure your make everything airtight and clean up really carefully afterwards - 'cos of the ants and other insects. I missed a teeny drop of fruit/brandy juice on the benchtop and the next day an army of ants were having a rave on it .

at ants having a rave! Don't have insect problem here as we have screens and get house pest controlled every 6 months. Was a bit worried about the heat though.

Will make one and see how it turns out. Will buy fruit today. What to soak it in? hmmm

well i'm off and running. I put my fruit into soak yesterday. I couldn't resist the special price luxury fruit mix at sainsburys. I have also used quite a lot of glace cherrries but they are posh onen, so they are dark red/black and taste properly of cherries, completely unlike the fluorescent red ones (which i actually like too).

I went for brandy in the end. I am hoping that i won't regret getting the cheap sainsbury's own brand!

I am baking it on thursday and have some questions which i would appreciate some views on

firstly, i thought some halved macadamias would be nice in it for a bit of crunch but am not sure if that could then stop the cake holding together?

secondly, this 'feeding' of the cake business. How deap down into the cake do we prick it with a skewer for. Is it right through the cake or just the top - exactly how much then? a cm? (have previous conviction for over exuberance with this aspect whilst making a lemon drizzle and it went very soggy)

will no doubt come up with some more and i haven't even thought about icing yet. so much to do......

tis fun

would appreciate any input of my macadamia / cake pricking dilemmas.

enjoy everyone

Well I just bang a skewer sort of halfway down and drizzle, just a little bit mind you.

I have not started baking yet as my DS was up all night and I am shattered, I may bake at about 7pm.

I started a bit early. It was something I thought would take ages but it really doesn't, just measure out flours & sugar & butter separately and off we go....its now in oven!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think those nuts will be fine if you chop them.

mine now wrapped & in the dining room, waiting for it first feed.

Still not got a time where I can make it. Prob Tues or Weds evening, so am on catch up.

Well done to those who did manage to make time. Am v envious.