Cake help! No time to 'mature' it. What to do?

[GarlicMaybeNot]

I'm making the damn things as gifts. First version came out weird so I ate it 😏 Then lost enthusiasm, so kept putting it off and now I have to post them in THREE DAYS TIME.

The fruit's been soaking in brandy & molasses for over a month - it's probably 100 proof by now - but my traditional base cake (a version of Delia Smith's) will still be rather stiff and crumby without the required time & feeding rituals.

Anybody know how to make a cake thick, moist, and strong enough to hold the fruit up? Please??

This cake is brilliant and moist. From experience you need to cook it longer than the instructions. Your pre-soaked fruit will help make it even more moist. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/make-mature-christmas-cake

Mary Berry says this one doesn't need to be fed and can be made last minute. And Mary cannot possibly be wrong!

I've also made it for years, and can confirm 😁

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/apricotandbrandychri_77766/amp

Thanks, @punypower. That one also says it needs keeping & feeding. Have you tried it just a few days after baking?

Oh, joy 🥳 It specifically doesn't need the ritual! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Right, I'm going in with Mary ... I shall be some time.

Did you promise cake? Or could you jar up some of the boozy fruit, top up with a little more booze and call it Christmas compote?

Delia's Last Minute Christmas Cake is excellent. I put the fruit on to soak yesterday. Last year I left it a bit too last minute and didn't bake the thing until Christmas Eve!

I make that bbc recipe every year to make a large, plus multiple miniature cakes as it is always delicious and moist. I add a cap full of brandy to each of my miniature cakes when they are still warm and do no other feeding or maturing.

I made nigel slaters kitchen diaries Christmas cake last week then marzipan it this weekend, ice next weekend.

Never fed it. Been making it 13 years. I want dc to eat it too and they wouldn't like the booze. Always had lots of compliments.

Nigella is your friend here.https://www.nigella.com/recipes/easy-action-christmas-cake

I make Delia's every year and never feed it/mature it and it's always fine. I don't put the almonds in and don't cook it for as long as she says or it burns (I think modern ovens are faster tbh). My DFIL has usually eaten it by mid Jan anyway 😂

I'm soaking overnight for Delia's last minute one - used up a jar of unwanted mincemeat and the dregs of a rum bottle. Will bake tomorrow. And eat it in 7 days time.

We make this every year and it's lovely!

Also, Lidl pre soaked fruit is your friend here!

Belated update: I made a mashup of Mary and Delia - Delia's fruit mix (I'd already done that) and Mary's cake base with added spices. It worked pretty well, and I had time to douse them in booze two nights running. Very moist and extremely boozy 😂

They took fucking forever to reach 98° - five hours!

My texture's a bit weird, probably because I had to make them gluten free. It must be the xanthan gum; thinking about it, I could probably have got away with GF flour and no gum. Flavour's as it should be, though, and they are definitely not hard or dry!

Thank you for your help. All recipes now bookmarked for future Christmases!