Summary
For as long as I can remember, my Mum has been making this Christmas Cake every single year. It's the perfect dessert on Christmas Eve, it's the perfect present for extended family, it's a staple of family Christmas. Here's how to create the most delicious, moist, and festive cake for your family this Christmas.
For as long as I can remember, my Mum has been making this Christmas Cake every single year.
It’s the perfect dessert on Christmas Eve, it’s the perfect present for extended family, it’s a staple of family Christmas.
Here’s how to create the most delicious, moist, and festive cake for your family this Christmas.
Step One:
Before you start on making the cake, you need to soak a mixture of fruits and peels in brandy for a few days.
For this, you will need:
- 1 lb currants
- 6 oz raisins
- 6 oz sultanas
- 2 oz candied peel
- 2 oz glace cherries
- 3-4 tablespoons brandy
Leave this mixture in a covered bowl with the brandy soaking it for a few days before doing anything else.
Step Two:
This is where the dry ingredients come in. You will need:
- 8 oz plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Sieve the flour and spices into a separate bowl from the fruit mixture. Set aside.
Step Three:
- 8 oz unsalted butter
- 8 oz soft brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
In another bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs and slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture, a little at a time.
Step Four:
To finish, you will need:
- The zest of 1 lemon
- The zest of 1 orange
- 1 Dessert spoonful of black treacle
Add the flour and spice mixture, a spoonful at a time, to the wet mixture.
Gently fold in the dry to the wet. Do not whisk.
Add the treacle and zest, and a bit of lemon and orange juice if the mixture requires it.
Step Five:
Line a 7 inch square tin with several layers of baking paper.
Fill the tin with the mixture and level out the top.
Put one layer of baking paper on top of the mixture.
Bake for approximately 3 1/2 – 4 hours at 140 degrees Celsius.
Step Six:
Once cool, feed the cakes with little bits of brandy every week for as many weeks as you have left before Christmas. Four weeks will do the trick.
Step Seven:
To decorate, you will need:
- Apricot jam
- A roll of marzipan
- Royal icing
- 3 egg whites
- 600g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon liquid glucose
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
First, coat the cake in a layer of apricot jam.
Add a layer of marzipan on top and allow 24 hours for that to dry.
To make the royal icing:
- Whisk the egg whites until lightly whipped.
- Add the icing sugar a few tbsps at a time, whisking continuously until all incorporated.
- Add the glucose and lemon juice
- Continue whisking until the icing is thick enough to hold stiff peaks when you lift the beaters and is smooth and shiny.
Spread the icing using a palette knife. If you wish to make a snowy design, use a teaspoon to make small dips and peaks.
Add any other decorations you have, such as fondant snowmen or festive hundreds and thousands.
Leave the icing to firm up in a cool and dry place before cutting the cake.
And there you have it! It may have taken around a month to make but this cake is worth it. Now go enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a very merry Christmas!
Featured Image Credit: Kerry Lloyd.
Braw Magazine co-editor for Stirling University’s Brig and a third year English and Journalism student.
