Christmas Cake..........It's that time.............Who is signing up this year...............

[UCM]

You have a month or so to buy ingredients but this is a copy of what I wrote last year. Please use this thread to tell us of fantastic recipes and to add the general lovliness of anticipation

6oz sultanas
6oz raisins
4oz currants
4oz glacecherries
3oz mixed peel
1/4 pint sherry
6oz butter
6oz soft brown sugar
4 eggs
4oz SR flour
4oz plain flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1oz ground almonds

Mix together all fruit. pour sherry over and leave to soak for 1 week, covered. Stir frequently until required.

Grease & line a 7 - 8 inch cake tin

Method

Cream butter & sugar until soft & fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour, salt & ground almonds. Drain off any liquid from the fruit and mix fruit into mixture stirring until well blended. Put into prepared tin, smooth top and bake just below middle of oven for 1 hour on gas mark 3. Then cover with foil and reduce oven to gas mark 2 and cook for a further 1.5 hours until firm to touch. Leave to stand in tin until nearly cold. remove from tin, prick well and pour over liquid from dried fruit. Wrap in foil or greaseproof paper and leave to mature until a few days before christmas, then marzipan & ice.

Tips: I don't like almonds so didn't use em. I also put some chocolate liqueur in with the sherry. also I don't like marzipan so didn't ice, but did make one for a relative which I did ice and it was easy. I have never made a christmas cake before and I have to say this recipe works like a dream.

Well ???????

Mine's in the oven and it smells gooooooooood

I mentioned a while ago about lining/wrapping the tin. I did it like this:
Line the tin (sides and bottom) with greaseproof paper, then baking paper (greasing first and in between to make them stick). The baking paper needs to stick up an inch or so above the top of the tin. Then put the cake in.

Wrap the tin in 2 layers of brown paper, again with it sticking up. My mum used to use string to hold it, now she uses pins, I stapled it. Put 4 lids on top of the brown paper walls - 1 greaseproof, 1 baking paper, 2 brown paper. They need to sit on top of the brown paper, NOT on the cake!

Apparently the brown paper stops it burning round the edges. I sat it on 1 piece too to stop its bottom burning.

I made 2 cakes last weekend, and fed it with a little more brandy today. That's it. Now we wait. They are my first ever Christmas cakes, and they look and smell like they're supposed to, so I'm taking that as a good sign!

I've done mine today too
I did one with whiskey last year, and it was nice, but I've done it with brandy this year.
It is still in the oven actually, smells lovely though.

I've just put mine in the oven then looked again at the recipe. It says 3-4 hours in the oven. Please say I'm not going to be waiting at half past midnight!

Imake Nigellas black cake, which is the bomb Last year I made her Chocolate fruit cake which I swear is better than anything else I have ever tried, I need to go doig out the recipe

I'm going to start my cake today (soaking fruit). Using Delia's recipe but without the 50g almonds. Any suggestions for a nut-free substitute? DH is in the supermarket now so I can ring him if you are quick

Has anyone tried Nigella's recipe with marmalade in? MIL makes lovely marmalade and as the cake will mostly be eaten by her and her DH, i wondered whether to try it?

Replacement for nuts - just use any dried fruit - perhaps chopped dried apricots, more glace cherries or more peel (the real stuff if you can bear to snip it up. I do a Delia christmas cake and don't stick religiously to the exact weight of each dried fruit/nut/peel, though the total weight stays the same.

Thanks - i have chucked in the rest of the pot of glace cherries

I made my first ever Christmas cake last week. Used UCMs looked great as now I am making no 2 for the in-laws.

I've just started my cake today, the fruit is soaking in brandy, I'm planning on making & baking on Thursday.

Hello all - I MADE MY CAKE THIS EVENING, after the fruit had been soaking for about 2 weeks.

I have two tips (this being my first year as a genuine cake maker).

Firstly. Do not make your first ever Christmas Cake with your mother in the same kitchen. Whatever recipe you are following, it is inferior to her extensive knowledge, and therefore every move will be questioned.

Secondly. (And this shows my amateur approach to this). Do not just haphazardly break the eggs into the mixture "willy nilly". this will result in you adding extra crunch to the finished result with an accidental drop of half an eggshell into the beating KitchenAid.

Now it is wrapped in foil soaking up booze. Hope the addition of extra eggshell doesn't hinder my chances of winning MN Christmas Cake of the year.

PS I used Nigellas recipe with Marmalade. If that helps anyone. 'Twas easy.

I've had to add extra brandy to the dried fruit, it had sucked it all up and still looked a bit wrinkly....the fruit is now looking plump & juicy. Hoping to bake the cake tomorrow, or Saturday if I'm too knackered. I'm working night's tonight! (valid excuse)

I'm trying a different one this year. A Chocolate Fruitcake. Mmmmmmm. I've been drooling over the recipe. But it's not a long-life cake. It has the keeping qualities of an ordinary sponge-and-fruit cake.

I shall report back when I've made it.

I got my cake out tonight to "feed" it and it was looking v.moist and was even sticking slightly to the greaseproof paper. Is this normal? If not what can I do about it? Please help this is the first Xmas cake I've made.

I have finally ordered the ingredirnts with this weeks shopping.

My excuse for not doing it earlier is that I gave birth 2 DD2 4 weeks ago.

Crunchie if you manage to find Nigella's choclate fruit cake recipe wold you mind sharing it? It sounds lovely.

Ledodgy here is a link to Nigella's chocolate fruit cake

For those like UCM, who don't like marzipan - you could go Italian-style and decorate the top of the cake with candied fruit and glaze with runny apricot jam. And put a ribbon round the sides of the cake. Particularly nice if you're giving the cake to someone else.

I am baking next weekend. Assuming nothing else crops up...

Thank you Winnie.

I like the sound of the Nigella one, but dd isn't keen on fruitcake, so this is the one I'm planning to use. Not sure about the ganache, though - the dcs decorate it each year, so might do marzipan instead.

For the cake

75g dried cranberrries
150g lexia raisins
5 tbsp brandy
250g plain 70% chocolate
6 tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract
175g unsalted butter
175g light muscavado sugar
4 medium eggs
150g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
75g Brazil nuts, chopped

For the ganache

200g white chocolate
300ml double cream
1 tbsp brandy
cocoa powder, for dusting

1.Soak the cranberries and raisins in 2 tbsp brandy overnight.
2.Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Oil and base line a 20cm round loose bottomed cake tin.
3.Melt plain chocolate, milk and almond extract together in a bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly.
4.In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in flour, melted chocolate mixture, ground almonds, soaked fruit and Brazil nuts.
5.Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1-1.5-2 hours until a skewer comes out clean. Remove cake from tin, discard lining paper and cool completely on a wire rack. Then turn cake over, prick the base several times and drizzle over the remaining brandy, before turning upright again.
6.To make the ganache, melt the white chocolate. Allow to cool slightly. Lightly whip the double cream until just holding its shape. Fold in the brandy. Working quickly, gently fold the cream into the white chocolate until it's well combined.
7.Spread the white chocolate mixture over the tops and sides of the cake and smooth with a knife. Allow the ganache to set and then dust with the cocoa powder and tie a gold ribbon around if you wish!

Make the cake the day before you want to serve it and once it is cooled keep it in the fridge wrapped in foil. The next day, decorate it and serve. This makes sure the cake is nice and dense and not crumble, which it will be if you eat it on the day you cook it.

I have just fed mine. Oh it's smelling gooooooooooooooooood.

Finally got round to making mine today, it's cooling and smells lovely.

Somewhat later than most, but I've made it. It's in the bottom oven and I'll look at it in about 3 1/2 hours.