Too early to make Christmas cake?

[Zebedee999]

I love Christmas cake so make them regularly (with whole cherries, whole brazils, and copious amounts of rum).
I follow my gran's recipe with rum and it makes an amazing cake but how long will they keep? I have been told it improves with age (typically a few months).
If I made a Christmas cake now with lots of rum would it be past its best at Christmas, or just keep getting better with age? (It is stored wrapped in cling film in a cool, dark, pantry). Thanks for any advice.

They easily keep for more than 12 months! Stored correctly of course.

They keep - but it's forecast to be the hottest week of the summer here, I personally would wait for another cool damp spell (probably won't be long).

I wrap mine in greaseproof paper then foil, rather than plastic, but yes, make it now.

It just gets richer and richer. Christmas pudding does the same. So yum.

Hmm. You have me thinking now.

I usually make mine on the bank holiday at the end of August and then regularly feed them with Marsala.

They will last for a long time, I found some in a press that had been missed out on previous Christmas and they were fine. But it's all about the storage and recipe, they need a nice cool place and houses these days are a lot warmer than years ago especially in cooler months. If you have a nice cool place then no problem, I have a specific cupboard in coolest part of the house for them, you don't want a utility room for example with a dryer running regularly, moisture and heat is the enemy!

It's also the sugar in the fruit and cake that preserves and not the alcohol, a cake light on fruit for example will not last as long as a dried fruit packed one. I soak the fruit in some alcohol for flavour but add none once the cake is cooked, once it's wrapped when cool then it's left alone so the dribbling on is not necessary for storage it's more for flavour purposes.

Mine live regularly in 45 degrees for days on end and they survive just fine. If sealed properly, damp shouldn’t affect them either.

Many thanks for your excellent advice above. Noted about greaseproof paper rather than cling film. I am lucky I have an old house with a proper cold/dark pantry.

I made two last weekend. One will definitely get eaten early (I love fruit cake), the other I hope will survive.

Thanks again.

Oooooh!! I’ve just remembered I put some leftover Christmas cake in the freezer!!!

Will be fine, which reminds me I need to make my wedding cake and that's earlier.

If it lasts perfectly ok in a cool place, why freeze it? Not saying you're wrong, just wondering if freezing gives benefits? Does it affect the taste in any way?

No need to freeze it, it'll be fine until well after Christmas, although it's not really baking weather at the moment. I usually make mine on BH Monday at the end of August as the weather is usually crap and DP is usually working.

Traditionally people use the top tier of their wedding cake as the christening cake for their first born, which is likely to be at least a year later, possibly longer so a good guide as to how long this sort of cake tends to last.

I agree with what you say.
Re the Christening cake... I am hoping they last a lot longer than a year, my daughter's has been two years and waiting so far ....