Made my cake! Who else?

[drinkswineoutofamug]

Maybe a bit late but followed Mrs beestons xmas cake recipe and it smells great.
Starting to feel like Christmas! 🎄

I will marzipan it week before xmas then decorate xmas eve (ish)

Done two weeks ago!

I do a vegan version of Delia; marge for butter and Oggran for eggs. It then gets dosed with brandy on a weekly basis. Mmm

What’s oggran?

A substitute for egg - based on flaxseed and potato starch I think! Works well :)

Well you learn something new everyday . Will look out for that .

It’s half term baking time, hurrah! Some years I end up making a boiled cake just before Christmas, but not this year.

Done! I make it with the kids so use the Waitrose kit. Originally this was Delia-endorsed so think it is based on her recipe. It tastes pretty good and with all the dry ingredients weighed out it is pretty quick to do.

I hope you budding baker realise, you have to be back here, to show off your fantastic works of decorated art!
I am doing my mince pies next week. One batch with sweet pastry, the other with cinnamon pastry. In the freezer done. Want to try ginger bread but epic fail last year so any handy tips?

Mines made....i always use Delia's recipe adapted a bit....house smells so Christmassy!

I've got all my ingredients in now Cakes are getting made on Friday, now just to soak the fruit. Can't decide whether to do it tomorrow or tonight and give it an extra day to soak.

Also re: gingerbread.

Have you considered Lebkuchen? Faaaaar tastier. I have a great recipe that I got in my Bake Off calendar last year and I love it.

Not yet. This week for sure, maybe today if I can get into gear.

I'll be doing the usual Make and Mature BBC good food recipe. Always a winner. I've done it the last few years and it's always a winner.

Will do one for FIL too, rather than a bought gift.

Bit off tangent but does anyone know of a good website that does nice Christmas cake tins?

Sorry to hijack drinks wine

@oldlaundbooth dotcom gift shop has some nice tins - sort of vintage-looking. I haven't actually bought them btw - just seen them in the catalogue and they look nice.

Do not apologise @oldlaundbooth .

I want this thread to be handy tips, regarding xmas baking and stuff like that. Cakes, treats, sweets etc

@GherkinSnatch do you have the recipe?

I’m shit at baking, my mates will vouch for that! This is another reason I started the thread, because I actually baked a cake and didn’t cremate it!

Thanks snailo, I'll take a look. It'll look nice if I put FIL's cake in for a gift.

Always happy to be of service regarding cakes, drinkswine

www.rivercottage.net/recipes/chunky-fig-apricot-and-prune-cake

This recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a good lighter alternative to a Christmas cake. Easy to make too.

Good with custard as well!

Had the fruit soaking since Sunday and will make it tomorrow with DD. Will then feed every few days, marzipan and ice around 16 Dec. We always have a big Xmas party and I make a big square cake around half of which I cut into tiny squares and serve as one of the canapés. We’d never eat it all otherwise.

Lebkuchen

115g black treacle
60g runny honey
90g unsalted butter
25g dark muscovado sugar
300g self-raising flour
1/2tsp bicarb of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp ground ginger
1/4tsp ground allspice
“a good grating” of fresh nutmeg (I used ground, and figured about 1/8tsp would do)
“A small pinch” of ground cloves
A pinch of salt
1 medium egg
Finely grated zest of a small orange

• Melt together the honey, butter, treacle and sugar in a pan, then let cool. *Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and make a well in the centre. Add the egg and orange zest to the melted butter mixture, then pour into the well. Stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to form a dough. It will look very wet, this is fine. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth. Shape it into a disc, then wrap it in clingfilm and chuck it in the fridge for 30 minutes. *Heat your oven to 180C/160 fan/350F and line your baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
• Turn the dough out and roll it until it’s about 5mm thick. Cut into shapes and bake for 12 minutes. Let them cool on the tray for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack.
• Make up your icing by beating the egg white and lemon juice into the icing sugar to form a paste. Brush/spoon this over the biscuits while they’re still warm and then leave to cool completely.

The icing is - 1 medium egg white, 150g icing sugar and 2tbsp lemon juice. Would have been helpful to include that the first time around.

I'm not trying to be one of those people who deliberately sabotage recipes so that only they can make The Good Lebkuchen, honest

Thanks I will have a go at that.

Mmm... Christmas baking!! I love it! Has anyone got Mary Berry's Christmas book? Every year I say I'm going to make the fruit strudel but I never do. Maybe this will be the year...

These all sound delicious! I made one a couple of years ago, and fed it religiously every week with lovely alcohol. I can't remember what recipe it was though. Do you think I could use Stone's Ginger Wine to steep my fruit in? Or to feed my cake? Would that have the same effect? My weirdo DH has gone teetotal on me.

I have my ingredients, I use an old family recipe, as per recipe I have never soaked the fruit. I'm going to make it at the weekend I think, so should I soak the fruit for a few days? What brandy to fruit radio do I go for to soak?