The cake is ready to bake, but need urgent final tips.

[BooEekCackle]

So I have 2 x Delia Creole Christmas cakes ready (fruit stewed in booze for 7 days) to go in the oven.

However, Delia does not have tips to line your tin on her website as she professes. I have found a pretty decent youtube tutorial which lines a tin with 3 layers of baking brown paper inside and a layer of foil, then 3 layers of brown parchment on the bottom. All good so far.

However, then I see other Christmas cakes going into the oven with tin foil round them. Also, what about the top of the cake? Do I need to cover it?

Then I heard someone say that her's has never caught fire! WTF. I don't want to sit outside the oven for 4 hours.

I lined the tin in 2 layers of baking parchment. Then wrapped the tin (with the cake mix inside) with 2 layers of parchment tied with string. It had about 3 hours like that on gas mark 3, then turned it down and put a payer of baking parchment on top for about 45 mins. It turned out alright :)

It's a bloody minefield!

I have an old towel which is cut into strips, which I wet and wrap around the cake to keep it from getting too hot on the outside, fastened with safety pins. You can buy things especially for the job but I read that this tip works just as well. I haven’t used them on an Xmas cake, but if I’m making a large birthday cake it helps it to cook evenly.

Do make sure to shake off the loose towelling fluff before you put it anywhere near the cake though!

OMG, I have Wilton bake even strips. I am soaking them and going to put them round the side.

Do I need to cover the top of the cake with a layer of parchment/ tin foil or leave it exposed?

If I'm doing a large or slow cooking cake , I put a piece of parchment with a hole in the middle . It might flap about if you have a fan oven though .
You could fold down the sides so it sits on your lining paper

It's 2.30pm and still not in the bloody oven.
70, so covering it won't affect the look of it?

FFS, forgot the demerera sugar. Need to pop to Tesco.

Covering the top is alright. Doesn't the recipe say to turn it over anyway so it's earlier to ice. Does it matter what it looks like?

Disclaimer. I have never turned a cake over to ice, this is my first time!!

How did it go? Is it still cooking?

Well, if I do say so myself it looks pretty fantastic

I followed Delia's recipe to the letter. Not sure if she has adjusted it recently but it was cook for 3 hours on 140 degrees (gas mark 1) and then cover for final hour. I followed the timings but did a few different things.

I did a good job of lining the square tin with butter and 2 layers of brown baking paper. I put a layer of tin foil on the bottom and then 2 layers of baking paper all with melted butter painted over it. Then I put a layer of brown paper with hole in over it as 70isa suggested. It looks pretty good to me. I am not sure if I could have gone shorter on the time but it is a nice mid brown colour, no burnt bits. I forgot to put my Wilton strips round it and since it came out ok will not do that in future. I have another one to go in and will do it tomorrow. I will take a photo this time.

I have wrapped it up in 2 x brown paper and then tin foil and stored it in a plastic container I picked up for a couple of pounds in QD. I will feed it weekly.

Not sure what to feed it with. Should I make another Creole mixture like in the recipe?

All in all, happy with cake no.1. It looks like I will have 2 to eat because the person I was making it for just informed me they don't really like Christmas cake

Tell them it's birthday cake lol.

I'm about to start this cake and really appreciate all the suggestions and recommendations for the baking. I will also by doing my trusted Nigel Slater Christmas puddings so the whole house will smell amazing 

MissCherry
I wanted to do a pudding but no one will eat it except me.

@BooEekCackle the Slater one is very nice and isn't like the traditional black/brown pudding it's more of a caramel colour and is very tasty. The recipe can be adapted smaller quite easily so you could make just a small one. Once it's cooked you can freeze the uneaten bit in slices for a Christmassy treat when ever

Its actually the steaming for 3.5 hours on Christmas Day that is putting me off. The day is busy enough as it is.

BooEekCackle nobody in my house likes regular Christmas Pud but all devour my homemade version (a Good Housekeeping recipe from 2000!) It takes around 3.5hrs to steam when I make it on Stir-Up Sunday and is then wrapped in a fresh double layer of foil and stored in a cool dark cupboard until the main event. Reheating on Christmas Day only takes an hour of steaming (I usually put it on just before I serve the main meal). You can apparently slice it and heat in a microwave but A) I don't have one and B) I'm a Christmas freak and always make a spherical pudding for added Christmas ponce-tastic-ness . Happy to share the recipe with you if you would like.

Yes, please share.

Stir-Up Sunday. What's that?

If you have a slow cooker then use it for steaming your pud on Christmas Day . It just sits in a corner and sulks . If you have a ponce-tastic spherical one then just make a foil tent over the slow cooker.

Oh bloody hell Trumpton. Now I've googled that I am going to have to go and buy a spherical Christmas pudding mould

I don't have a slow cooker. How else can I do it.

I may actually make a pudding. Our guests and my DH say they don't like turkey, sprouts, cranberry sauce, ham and Christmas pudding and I am getting a bit cheesed off with my traditional Christmas lunch being railroaded over. I may make myself a fantastic pudding and say this is mine and your dessert is over there in the box. Help yourself. I bet my DC will eat what I bake. They told me yesterday I am a great chef.

Cake no.2 is coming out the oven in 10 mins

Ohhhh how do you do puddings in a slow cooker that sounds fab

Ah what lovely DCs you have I’m quite envious of all your homemade stuff. My mum always made it all from scratch but I am too lazy and as I’m the only one who likes either Xmas pud or Xmas cake it’s just not worth the effort

Mine also hate roast dinner so we’ve have pasta bake, curry, all sorts for Xmas dinner! I only get a roast if we go to my BFs house on the day. Not sure what the plan is this year but I have some M&S vouchers so might just buy it all in ready made

The pudding is cooked as normal in the ancient pressure cooker .
On Christmas morn it is plonked into the slow cooker with some boiling water and reheated for a couple of hours or more . Can be done in the corner of the kitchen and doesn’t take up hob space .MissCherryCakeyBun

I cover mine with a couple of sheets of newspaper,

GHK Pudding recipe from Dec 2000 (as evidenced by liberal & random splodges 😂). If you have trouble reading it OP I’ll type it out later for you. It looks complex due to ingredients list but it’s really not.

Stir Up Sunday is 25 November this year. It’s the last Sunday before Advent & is traditional day to make christmas pud.