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've made two! Thanks for your recipe hun. I fed them on sunday morning, they smell lovely.

Hi everyone,
Well I made mine last week and it looks good and smells heavenly, so fingers x as since my son died in 94 the few I have made have been terrible. Matthew and I always mixed the cake together and he loved to help ice and decorate. So this recipe seemed to jump out of Sainsburys Nov mag, just knew I had to make it. The fruit I brought back from Florida, it was soaked for 48 hours in Madeira, has brazil nuts and walnut, pureed prunes and apricots, plus the usual dried fruit, hope it will be good.

I made mine last week looks lovely going to feed it tomorrow. DH said I should have made 2 one to eat now and one for Christmas!!!

No way,I didn't realise it was gonna cost so much to make this damn cake. Just bought marzipan,icing, cake decorations etc. BAH HUMBUG!

Hi well I'm very late to this thread. Fruit is currently soaking in brandy and planning to make the cake tomorrow. I am going with Delia's recipe so will let you know how it all turns out. A bit nervous and excited at the same time as this is my first attempt ever at making a Christmas cake. Any ideas/ recipes re icing would be appreciated. I like the "snowy look" if that makes sense?

It's never too late . I haven't thought about the icing yet, but if you want that snowy look, I have a feeling fondant icing is for you. Anyone worried about the cost of decorating cake - they look lovely with a ribbon tied around them and nothing else (maybe a plastic Merry Christmas).

i made mine weeks ago, and haven't managed to feed it once, i will get round to doing it. i know home made cakes are expensive, but to get the same quantity of fruit, and quality of ingrediants, you'd have to pay at least £10, and it still wouldn't taste as nice.
my mouth is watering just remembering how mine smelt as it baked. hope it lives up to expectations.

The cake is currently in the oven and is making the house smell gorgeous!!! Lets just hope it tastes that way - fingers crossed

Finally got around to sorting fruit for second attempt yesterday. Am using your recipe this time UCM. (Except for candied peel - used dried cranberries instead).

Hi!

I am soooo envious of all those wonderful wafty baking smells in your kitchens!

I love baking and this year my challenge is to make a wheat free, egg free christmas cake and christmas pud for my allergic dd (who loves such things). You can't make them as far in advance and there is a lot of mashed banana in the pud but it's worth a go.

I'm going to do a dummy run on the pud this week to see if it is nice enough to make for christmas day. I'm thinking about making a really yummy toffee sauce to go with it so if it is a bit odd-tasting it'll be redeemed by the sauce...what do you think?

Oooh, just wanted to add - my fave topping for christmas cakes is nuts and whole dried fruits (like apricots, dates, cherries etc) all arranged artfully on top and glazed with apricot jam. I'm not keen on icing and I adore dried fruit and I think it makes cakes look gorgeous. (altho dd is also allergic to nuts so we will just go for dried fruits on ours...)

dh would prefer the nuts & fruit option, and i think it looks lovely, but i LIKE doing icing, so will be trying to get creative nearer the time.

Well made the cake yesterday. Was very easy and smells and looks good. Didn't use candied peel as my sis doesn't like it - used dried cranberries instead. And used Amaretto instead of whiskey.

Am taking it home to Dublin for Xmas so will wait and ice it then.

Mmmmm Budabeast that sounds wonderful. I made an amaretto and cranberry simnel cake for easter and it was divine (still remember how good it tasted....)

Sorry if this question has already been asked but is it possible to make it without the sherry but soak the fruit in something else?

Yes, soak it in Earl Grey tea. Any tea will do, but Earl Grey is the best. If you won't be feeding it with booze, then gently stew the fruit in the tea until it plumps up a little before making the cake.

Oh texasrose that sounds delish. Any chance of recipe??

Brilliant, thanks.
I'm going to do mine on Thursday after I've bought a new cake tin.

texasrose - I had to make egg free, wheat free 2 years ago due to ds2's allergies and it was fine. Because fruit cake/pud is dense you don't really notice the difference. toffee sauce sounds yum though. My cake is still egg/nut free this year. I just used Orgran egg replacer in the recipe.

Fed my cake again yesterday. I am doing one capful every two weeks. Looking and smelling good so far. 5 weeks to Christmas so should get 2 more feeds in before the big day. How soon before eating can you ice it??

My cake is done! I'm doing 2, so the second batch is soaking and the first is cooling down.

When do you do your weekly feeding ceremony UCM?

Budabeast I'm trying to find the recipe. I thought it was from BBC Good Food mag but I can't find it in their achives online. I'll keep looking!

Mymama I've not used Orgran egg replacement before - is it any good? The recipe I have got uses a lot of liquid and bicarb as the raising agent.

BTW I tried the christmas oud this pm and the dcs loves it, esp. dd who groaned with delight! It was covered in toffee sauce. It was only when I was making it that I realised it contained no egg, no butter, no wheat and no sugar - all the normal ingredients of a cake . It was lovely but without the toffee sauce I think it wouldn't have tasted v. sweet at all. I might make a little 'normal' one for dh who is not convinced about egg-free cakes!

the christmas PUD not oud! having one of those typo days

My cake smells great When do I stop feeding the cake and marzipan and ice it?

Have been feeding every 2/3 weeks. Will stop now. We must think about icing at some point. About 2 weeks before Christmas would be good!!

opps i thought i needed to feed every week