When to make a Christmas Cake?

[AhoyDelBoy]

I am thinking of attempting a Christmas Cake for the first time this year. Does anybody have any must try recipes? I’ve always thought you make them months in advance but not sure if I’m imagining this? So should I try and make one ASAP?

Any recipes, hints, tips and tricks appreciated

I always make mine at the start of October then 'feed' it brandy every week until I ice it on 23rd December

I generally make mine the first weekend after Halloween. It feels wrong before that!

I soak the fruit in brandy and spices from beginning of September (in large mason jars, turn them every day), make the cake in mid October and feed it from then til it's iced in December.

Hot toddy fruit cake on the BBC good food site. No need to feed it for months. Make it a week before.

I’ll be making mine in a couple of weeks

October half term is when I usually make mine. Then it just sits wrapped up in the cupboard with occasional douses of brandy or gran marnier until I marzipan/ice it a few days before Christmas.

I always make mine the third weekend in September.

Also think where you plan to store it while it matures.
Needs to be cooled and wrapped (I use fresh greaseproof paper and a double layer of foil) but you need to be able to get to it easily to feed it .

Temperature - cool, constant ,dry . We put ours on top of DH wardrobe.
I made a large cake last year (used my 12" square tin) cut into 4 squares to marzipan/ice 2 pieces, other 2 left plain.

Plain cake with Wendsleydale cheese is a delight for the tastebuds.

Ooh and for recipes , look at Delia and Mary Berry .
I use the Delia Christmas Cake recipe but with caster sugar , and only sultanas not currants/raisins .

I look at Paul Hollywood, not for cakes though , just because he's Paul Hollywood

I usually go for the Autumn Equinox. 23rd Sep this year.

DH makes it using Paul Hollywood’s recipe in October.
This year he might do Delia’s Creole one instead.

Mary Berry's recipe, 25 September.

Does the wine fridge sound like a good place to keep the cake to mature? It is at 12deg or is that too cold?

I've still got ingredients from last year from where I planned to make two cakes and only made one in the end.

I normally do the Ed Kimber cake but I want to try Delia's for a change. I love the idea of using mason jars for soaking the fruit. Normally I put it in my big mixing bowl covered in cling film.

I do it on Stir up Sunday, which this year is 25th November. I never make a pudding, so it's nice to do it tgen, play some festive music [santa] have a drink...

I always do ours in October.

This one is one of our favourites (but replace the brandy with rum) www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/recipes/the-ultimate-christmas-cake-1

I like to weigh out the fruit and get it soaking in the first weekend of school half term and then bake it in the second weekend. I always use the fruit cake recipe from Nigella’s Domestic Goddess book but soak the fruit in whiskey.

I’m toying with the idea of trying a different recipe this year but am worried that it won’t be ‘our’ cake.

I bake them using a boiled fruit recipe in September or October, I don't feed them with alcohol because that just results in a cake soggy with raw alcohol, the boiled fruit method means your fruit is already juicy and doesn't need the alcohol to replace the moisture.

Either Sept or Oct(think it was August one year...). They are fairly lethal in my family though, topped up with booze every week so they could end up with a litre of whiskey in them by Dec depending on where they're done...

Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I might aim to make it after my DDs birthday in mid September (I have a 1st birthday cake to think about as well 😱). Will definitely look at some of the suggested recipes. I’m excited to attempt my first Christmas cake, hopefully I find a delicious recipe straight away so I don’t have to spend years experimenting till I do.

Great tip @Foggymist thank you

@70isaLimitNotaTarget mine might be going in the wardrobe too, thanks for all the info!

I always use Nigella's recipe (love her Christmas book) and make mine late Oct/early Nov along with the Xmas pud.

We make ours on Remembrance Sunday.

That's a nice idea @SparklingXmas. All of the recipes I’ve looked at say to make it a maximum of three months in advance. Still pondering what recipe to go with as they all seem pretty similar. Won’t be using Paul Hollywood’s recipe as it doesn’t have any spices in it. I don’t know how much you can taste those in the others though because the quantities are so small

I'll bstart mine in a few weeks, I let the fruit macerate for a week or so. As for recipes I usually do Delia's but omit the treacle, have tried Nigella's but DH prefers Delia's. Every few years we do the Creole Christmas cake which is very rich