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

Well I finally made mine today - it is in the oven now.

I used a recipe from last month's Good Housekeeping but have to admit I am a bit unsure about it. There was too much mixture for the size of tin - 8 in - they recommended. So chucked the extra in a foil container and bunged that in oven too.

Am about to check out what I need to make another just in case - will soak fruit tomorrow. May try your recipe this time UCM.

(Oh - and it is snowing here too!!!))

Well.....

It is a nice fruit cake but not a Xmas Cake. Back to the drawing board!!!

All is not lost however as it can be my donation to the bake stall at our Xmas Bazaar!!!

Off to study recipies again!

I think it's the brown sugar, sherry, fruit and spices which make it that dark looking cake.

Out of curiousity did you use white sugar in yours?

Have just made mine. Rather a surreal experience, the DSs decided to help. Instead of listening to my Johnny Cash music, i had to endure Radio scotland - Hearts v Celtic. So every five minutes we had to stop what we were doing so Ds1 could hear what was being said. They argued over who was mixing what, and i ended up binning one bowlful of stuff, because they were arguing so much we couldn't remember what we had added. Never again - next year i will wait till they are at school. it's in the oven now, so we shall wait and see.

Yep - used brown sugar.

Fruit, butter, brown sugar, eggs, white flour, ground almonds. No spices.

Am surprised as it was a Good Housekeeping recipe and they are normally reliable.

Don't get me wrong - it is nice but just not Xmas cake!

Live and learn!

Out of curiosity, what was it about your GH cake that made it not Christmassy enough? And what would be the ideal Xmas cake?

The reason I ask is that I did think that for the perfect xmas cake that the OP recipe might need a bit more fruit, and maybe a spoonful of treacle, to make it a bit darker. Hope I am not offending you UCM, because you are now my Xmas cake guru.

Once I tasted it I changed my mind, because it is absolutely superb. But on looks alone I would maybe have had my doubts.

Well I reckon a spoonful of black treacle would definitely enhance things....don't know really. Someone mentioned earlier that they thought that it needed a bit more fruit. I bunged loads more than the recipe in because I didn't use nuts or cherries, maybe that's the answer.

GQM - not too sure really - it was a bit "light" I suppose. In texture rather then colour although colour light too. Haven't got black treacle although have some v. old molasses!!

I think I used Nigella's recipe last year. That was nice.

Will try UCM's this week some time. Need to re-stock on some ingredients.

Joining this thread a bit late but made mine on Tuesday - it got a bit brown on top but have used the recipe many times before now and it's fine.

Now, does anyone have any bright ideas re icing (a couple of days before Christmas, of course). I plan to do a top layer of royal icing and let the dc put little decorations on it BUT DS1 has a nut allergy so I can't put marzipan/almond paste on inbetween. Had thought of a layer of fondant icing but it might taste wierd. Any suggestions please?

budabeast (great name btw) i think it is the colour that you need. a darker colour.

just as i had made my xmas cakes with the partial intention of making MIL proud, she came to visit, not knowing I had already made my cake and said that an xmas cake had to be really dark.

her words were, to be precise, "i can't understand why people make pale christmas cakes. it has to be dark and full of fruit"

and i sat there with my pale-ish but delicious christmas cake thinking "damn, failed yet again".

hi joining in late. Made my cake on wednesday. used Nigella one as my "usual"(hasn't been used for four yrs) receipe is in storage.

I usually feed mine quite a few times before xmas, but as I'm due to give birth on xmas day and I have made the cake mainly as my main source of b/feeding nutrition I'm holding back on lacing it wtih more brandy.

How close to xmas do you ice them? I can't remember and my mum passed away and I've got major preg head. I'm aiming for the weeks after xmas as the time most will be eaten as no one who's with us for xmas day is as big a fan of xmas cake as I am! I need my icing to be dry enough to be passable on the 25th ut don't want to break my teeth on it a week later!
Any ideas? And do I let marzipan dry out for 24 hours before icing?

Hi there, starting late but loving joining in. I have been looking at recipies for a couple of weeks and this thread made my decision for me. This is my firt ever attempt at christmas cake and I am trying the pud recipe as well.

First time making for me too

I'll be watching for icing recommendations too spinaspook (sorry about your Mum BTW x)

I would recommend don't ice it too early - ideally no more than a couple of weeks before. I think this is why mine once went mouldy one year.

If you do need to ice it earlier, I would use the ready made icing you can buy, rather than your own. I think this has preservatives in it which will make it last longer - the shop bought ones last for months like that. In addition I think home made icing holds a bit more water, and therefore might make the cake more wet and likely to mould.

I have spent years getting it wrong, so am just trying to help people avoid all my mistakes!!!

Today is one week from baking so have done my first feed. My cake is slightly cracked on top so just poured a little brandy in the cracks. Probably 1 tablespoon altogether. Is this right?? Some moisture stayed on top so patted with kitchen paper before rewrapping and storing agin.

GoingQuietlyMad you have me really worried about a mouldy cake as I have not done this before.

Oooh I am looking forward to icing mine...I have the marzipan all ready too. I have nooo idea how to do it so I shall be watching this thread!
I am going to cheat with the icing...I'm going to make my own royal icing and make a "snow scene" I figure it might be easier than trying to get it flat!!

p.s...I'm worried to mymama..I haven't done one before either and I was very worried as I thought I'd overdone it with the whiskey...but it seems ok....I keep checking it every now and then and inspecting it for mould!!
I am trying not to overfeed it too.

Haven't read whole thread so sorry if i'm repeating but does anyone know if you can get charms to put into the cake (and what they're suposed to be..) you know the button, sixpence jewel etc...

Bababoo, charms go in Christmas pudding, not cake. Just google "pudding charms" for stockists.

I wouldn't worry about the mould. I haven't heard of many other people having this problem, and I absolutely soaked mine in brandy. It was more like xmas pud than cake. And then I put wet icing on about 3 weeks before.

I had better stop going on about it, or it might put people off.

thanks for the icing tips! i "usually" (see below 4 yrs since!) make up my own icing and I've got the marzipan waiting in cupboard(Let's see i it lasts til Xmas-DS and I big fans!)

Went with the "snow scene" look last couple of times I made it, but I'm going all Nigella this year. I'm attempting flat and smooth(might needs to use DS's Bob the Builder Roley!) and I bought some snowflake cookie cutters yesterday. Now all I need is some lustre and a miracle on the creative front!

BTW, I've never had mouldy issues(not a brag). I think as mentioned by others the trick is little (and often!) with the alcohol! It's a preservative after all!

Thanks muminbrum, just had vague enid blyton style memories...

My cake is now in the oven - dd1 (3) helped make it It's the first time I've made a Christmas cake.

Haven't had time to read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been covered, but I'm a bit worried about whether it'll be safe for the dds to eat if I keep feeding it with alcohol (dd2 will be 20 months old at Xmas). Does some of the alcohol evaporate, or will I risk getting the dds sozzled if I give them the cake for Xmas tea?

I'm not feeding mine this year because breastfed ds2 will be a few days old (hopefully) but as most kids of your dds' (and my DS1's) age aren't that keen on fruitcake, i don't think it's a problem to get the cake "drunk". My DS1 has only every nibbled a bit and eaten the marzipan having dissected it from icing! (but I havn't made one of my highly alcoholic cakes since he's been weaned(or even in existance! thinking about it I conceived him the last Xmas I made a cake-now that's an endorsement for a Xmas cake if every I heard one!)

So how did everyones cakes go? Anyone else making one?