Mini Christmas cakes

[littletike]

I'm thinking of doing a couple of hampers for relatives this year with mini Christmas cakes... has anyone made them and what's the best way to make them?

I've made delias Christmas cake - do I just make this and the divide it into something smaller or use a different recipe?

On the poncetastic thread someone mentioned making mini cakes in empty cans (soup or beans for example), maybe ask on there?

I'm making small ones this year, I'm going to use a Normal recipe but put it into a square baking tin and then cut it into 4 when it's time to ice. I'm going to decorate them as Xmas presents
That's the plan anyway

I did this a few years ago. Very well received, especially by older people on their own. I bought 3 of the Tesco very small round cake tins, ( and have used them a lot, eg batch baking individual gluten free cakes, and freezing them)
I tarted them up with cellophane and ribbon.

Ah lovely thank you.

If I use small tins how do I adjust the cooking time?

I'm halfway through the poncetastic thread but keep getting interrupted!

There is a really good website called cake-o-meter where you put in your original recipe and size tin and then select your new tin size and it works out all your new quantities.

Ds did this last year but just cooked them in muffin cases in a muffin try and everyone loved them. She put them in wee cellophane bags. I think the to. If brandy she constantly 'watered' them with helped!!!

When I was at school we made mini Christmas cakes in sponge pudding tins - as in, the tins that Heinz sponge puddings came in, cleaned out. We made a regular batch of christmas cake mix and divided it amongst the tins.

www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-77967-Heinz+treacle+sponge+pudding

Having looked into this more, planning on making mini ones myself, I've decided that the individual cans of sweetcorn from Aldi are actually a pretty good size. Wider than a regular can, not too deep so easier to work with and not as big as a treacle pudding tin. And 35p.

I've made some miniture Christmas cakes today. I used tuna tins to bake them in. Used the tuna, dishwashered them and they were good to go. I've done it before and had success. I use delias recipe split between as many tins as I have (I've made lots of different sizes today so can't tell you how many the mixture would make). I will wrap them in cellophane and they look really pretty.

How long did you cook them for Maryann?

Sorry, only just noticed the question, I don't know how long I cooked them for, 140C and I left them I think for about 40 mins and then checked them every few mins until they were done.