Christmas cake novice

[makingmiracles]

So I’m thinking of having a bash myself this yr, I usually buy from local bakery, they are amazing but around £18 so a small square cake and sometimes they’ve sold out before I’ve got one. My relative made one last yr but I wasn’t keen on it and over half ended up in the bin .

What recipes do people follow? And what is the icing that goes really hard? My relative used one that stayed soft and I prefer the one that goes hard.

Soaking the fruit, what do other people normally soak theirs in?

Tia!

I follow Nigella's recipe. In her How to Be a Domestic Goddess book she has recipes for 3 different sizes. It's a traditional cake and you can't go far wrong with it. My mum makes Nigel Slater's, which is less traditional but still nice

The icing is icing sugar and egg white with some lemon juice. You need more icing sugar than you'd imagine - that's what makes it harden up properly. Plus the layer of marzipan of course!

I love making my Christmas cake!

You can't go wrong with Delia Smith's recipe. Her cooking times might be a little off now as the recipe is over 40 years old now and ovens are hotter. Others here like Mary Berry's recipe, and Nigella's chocolate Christmas cake.

The hard icing is royal icing which is made from egg white and icing sugar. To keep it soft, you mix a bit of liquid glucose in it, or buy the ready made stuff.

I soak my fruit in brandy for about a week. Weigh out all the fruit, put in a box, pour the alcohol over, put the lid on and leave it in the fridge for a week, giving it a shake and stir every now and again.

You can buy bags of pre-soaked dried fruit. I’ve done that the last couple of years and it’s excellent. Pricey, but cheaper than buying a bottle of brandy if you never drink the stuff.

Novice here too. I made mine yesterday using a BBC good food one which I think was from James Martin. It said cook for two hours, but in reality it was in for four... I soaked the fruit in some brandy (miniature) over night. What it will taste like I don't know...

I use the Mary berry rich fruit cake recipe. I usually use fondant icing but you're describing "royal icing". The pp have explained how to make it.

My top would be to double line your tin with baking paper and that it takes a long time to cook. Don't rush it. If say 5-6 hours+ (obviously dependent on size!)

OOooh, where can I buy the pre soaked fruit? Have t seen that, would it be in bakery isle?

I make the simmer and stir cake by bbc food here I make mine in November and feed it a couple of times with brandy.

Why on earth would you need to buy Pre soaked fruit?!

I did Mary's cake last year and Delia's this year (in the oven right now!) They're very similar ingredients - Delia's uses a bit more currants and a bit less of everything else.

I use brandy to soak the fruit - including the feeding, it's probably about a quarter bottle for a 7in round/8in square cake.

I have to say though, 18 quid for a small (about 8 inch?) cake is not that bad - I probably spent about that for ingredients this time. Butter, marzipan, brandy and dried fruit all adds up. It's nice doing your own though.

Can I ask if you make a cake using tea instead of brandy can you still make it in advance?

There was a thread about that last year I think - I think the majority view was that if you don't use alcohol in the cake you could use tea or orange juice to soak the fruit, but that storing and feeding with tea etc wouldn't improve the cake (and might make it go fousty) so it would be better to just make it shortly before Christmas and not feed.

Mine has gone in to soak today, I’m using amaretto this year. Although I didn’t have enough currants, I am hoping it will still be ok.

I've used Nigella's recipe for years - it's foolproof and ridiculously easy. I soak the fruit in brandy, just cheap supermarket stuff that I also use for the Xmas pud and brandy butter (also Nigella recipes).

I soak in whatever alcohol comes to hand so normally a mixture of brandy, rum, calvados and a dash of sloe gin.

Use Delia's recipe and it has never gone wrong.

This year I've used port and rum in mine to use up old bottles left from various parties . We made 2, one is kept for Christmas and the other we ate and it was very nice too!

Having tried a few different recipes I now always stick to Delia's recipe. It always come's out amazing. Personally I don't feed mine and i don't ice it either as no one in our family seems to like the either the icing or the marzipan. I decorate with nuts and Glace fruit.