Easy Christmas cake recipe
This easy Christmas cake recipe produces a rich, moist fruit cake packed with dried fruit which has been soaked in alcohol. It can be made several months in advance and fed with alcohol, or can be made at the last minute just before Christmas.
Equipment
- 20cm square loose bottomed cake tin
Ingredients
- 600 g mixed dried fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, mixed peel, etc)
- 225 g glacé cherries
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 orange zest
- 120 ml sherry (or brandy or rum)
- 175 g butter
- 150 g flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon treacle
- 3 eggs
- 175 g soft brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 1 dash oil
Instructions
The day before baking the cake
- Measure the dried fruit into a bowl. Add the orange zest, lemon zest and sherry (or brandy or rum). Stir, cover and leave to soak overnight. If you have forgotten to soak the fruit or wish to make the cake straight away, place the fruit in a saucepan with the alcohol and heat gently until the fruit has absorbed the alcohol.
To prepare the cake
- Place the butter, eggs, sugar and treacle in a large bowl and beat slowly with an electric mixer or by hand.
- Sieve the flour into the bowl with the other ingredients. Add the baking powder and ground mixed spice and mix well.
- Add the soaked dried fruit to the other ingredients and mix well.
- Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper and lightly grease.
- Pack the cake mixture into the tin and loosely cover with foil leaving a space between the top of the cake and the foil.
To bake
- Preheat the oven to 140°C, 275°F, gas mark 1 and then bake for around 4 to 4½ hours or until cooked. Pierce with a warm skewer to check it is cooked.
- Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
To store
- When the cake has cooled, wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin.
- The cake can be eaten straight away or can be stored for several months in an airtight tin.
- The cake can be left as it is or you can add extra alcohol at intervals before eating. If you wish to add more alcohol, pierce the top of the cake with a skewer in several places and drizzle a little more alcohol into the holes.
- The cake can be enjoyed as a simple fruit cake or can be decorated to your choice. The nutritional information is for an undecorated cake.
Notes
How to store
When your cake has cooled, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin where it can b e kept for several months.
How to feed
Feed your Christmas cake with alcohol about every couple of weeks or so. This will help to preserve it and also stop it drying out.
Take the cake out of the airtight tin and unwrap it. Pierce the top of the cake several several times using a skewer. Drizzle a little alcohol over the top of the cake so that it filters into the newly formed holes.
Wrap the cake again in greaseproof paper and return to the airtight tin.
Tips
- After zesting the orange and lemon the fruit can be wrapped in plastic and stored in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
- Heat the spoon either in a jug of hot water or in the flame of a gas ring before using it to measure the treacle so that it slides easily off the spoon.
- My favourite way to enjoy Christmas cake is as a plain fruit cake topped with cheese. Wensleydale or Cheshire are perfect for pairing with this rich fruit cake.
- If you are feeling more ambitious you could decorate your cake with marzipan and royal icing. Heat a small amount of apricot jam in a saucepan to dab the cake to help the marzipan stay in place. Roll out a layer of marzipan and cover the cake. Roll out the royal icing. Add further dabs of jam to the marzipan and lay the icing over the marzipan. You could cover the whole cake with marzipan and icing or just the top.
- Alternatively you could top your homemade Christmas cake with whole blanched almonds, pecans, glacé cherries and/or candied fruit.
Nutrition
Calories: 210kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 96mgPotassium: 215mgFiber: 3gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 217IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!