Last minute Christmas cake recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas, Desserts | 297 comments
Over the years we have tried various Christmas cake recipes but the best by far was the one that we made last year, a week before Christmas. We wanted a cake packed with fruit but not a dark heavy traditional type of Christmas cake. We’d had to force down too many slices of these in the past.
My Mother used to make us these and bring one each Christmas. Then she decided to buy them. These were worse and not disguised by being fed with lashings of brandy. We’d cut a few slices at Christmas, give her half the cake to take home at the end of her stay and the rest would linger in the larder for weeks and eventually been tossed out with the rubbish. We tried feeding one particularly disappointing one to the birds one year, and even they turned their beaks up at it.
“Make a Christmas cake if you want. But I won’t be eating it,” said Danny, settling in a large armchair to watch the rugby. Faced with this challenge I was determined to bake a cake that even D couldn’t resist.
I skimmed though all our books and found a recipe for a Christmas cake that sounded lighter than usual and tinkered with the ingredients. I replaced the darker ingredients, molasses, stout and muscavado sugar with lighter alternatives. We didn’t cut it until Boxing Day, when I spotted Danny sneaking into the kitchen for a second slice. Slightly paler than a traditional cake, it was packed with fruit, tasted wonderful and kept well. The last slice was tucked into my lunchbox at the end of January.
If you fancy trying a more traditional recipe, here are two links to sites with Christmas cake recipes that look good:
There is a Mary Berry recipe here http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/apricotandbrandychri_77766.shtml
Delia Smith has a range of recipes here http://www.deliaonline.com/search/?qx=christmas+cake
Last minute Christmas cake recipe:
Equipment:
8″ round cake tin (4″ deep), baking parchment.
Ingredients:
- 450g raisins
- 285g sultanas
- 110g currants
- 180g glacé cherries (halved)
- 110g ground almonds
- 225g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 225g soft brown sugar (pale)
- 285g plain flour (sieved)
- zest of a lemon
- 5 eggs
- 2 tsp of mixed spice
- 2 tbsp of pale runny honey
- 200 ml of beer (I used Speckled Hen)
- 4 tbsp of Irish Whiskey/Whisky/ Brandy – when the baked cake has cooled
Method:
- Preheat oven to 160c (140 fan)
- Line the base and sides of the 8″ cake tin with a double thickness of baking parchment. Cut the paper an inch deeper than the tin so that it is sticking above the top rim.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (I use an electric mixer for this).
- Beat the eggs well and add them gradually to the mixture, a little at a time, beating them well. If the mixture curdles beat in a teaspoon of the flour before continuing.
- Using a tablespoon, gently fold in the flour, lemon zest and spices.
- Fold in the beer and honey and stir gently.
- Add the fruit and ground almonds and stir gently.
- Transfer the mixture to the cake tin and make a hollow in the centre of the mixture (roughly 2″ wide and 1″ deep).
- Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for about 2.5 hours depending on your oven, it may need a little longer. Check that it is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle – this should be clean when removed. The centre should feel firm and springy if touched.
- Turn out onto a wire rack. When it is cold, make a few holes in the top and bottom of the cake (using a skewer) and feed the cake with the Irish whiskey (brandy would be fine as an alternative).
- Wrap the cake in baking parchment and store in a tin or cover with foil until you need it.
- If you would like to make your own marzipan – it’s very easy and so much better than bought. My recipe is here
Tips and tricks:
- If you are going to cover the cake with marzipan and ice it, put the marzipan on a few days before it is iced so the surface of the marzipan can dry. Otherwise the marzipan can bleed through and stain the icing.
- I sliced off the top of my cake before putting on the marzipan so the top would be flat. Or use the base as the top.
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Great Recipe post thanks
Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe
I just had to leave another comment about this cake… probably just talking to myself lol but if anyone does drop by soon then this’ll be worth it. The 1st cake I bade was excellent and I was really happy with it, as were my family, I made it again but doubled the recipe to make a 12″ base for a wedding cake for my cousin. I laced it with cherry brandy the next day and wrapped it up to store for 3 weeks. I have to say what a difference it made with after it had been left to mature :o) and it was loved by everyone at the wedding! I was sooooo proud :o) so Thank you so much for this recipe and if anyone is worried about how this will turn out…… don’t be!!! it’s fabulous!
Thank you! It’s the only fruit cake that Danny happily eats – shame as everyone else loves it too 😉
I am sooooo impressed with this cake, it is proper scrumscious and moist and sweet and just delicious, even those in the family who don’t like fruit cake tried and actually liked… looks like I’m going to be busy at christmas :o)
My cake lasted only 3 days as everyone wanted some LOL
I stuck to the recipe except I used dark sugar, just to make it look a little darker.
I didn’t feed it with any whisky or anything but to be honest I am happy with the way it tastes but I will feed the next one just to see what difference it makes.
Thank you for the recipe x
Yes I’d like to see a picture too please…. I’m also making a wedding cake and LOVE the sound of this recipe… If I added cherry brandy would that be ok? and would it make it slightly darker? as this would help make it look more traditional.
Do you have any photographs showing how this cake looks. I am wanting to make a wedding cake using this recipe and would like to see how light it is as would like to keep it looking traditional but do not have a lot of time.
This is the recipe I have been searching for!
Thank you so much. I came across it as I was so late making my Christmas cake this year (the actual week of Christmas !)
I loved the cake so much that I shall use this recipe again next year, whether I am short of time or not!!
I was in the Middle East when I made it and couldnt get my hands on a bottle of ‘Speckeled Hen’ or similar beer to put in, so I had to use a bottle of Heineken that was lying around! It turned out great in any case – eventhough the beers are so different!
I’m looking forward to trying the recipe with the real beer next year – This is such a wonderful site, I’m glad I found it, and is one of the few that I have bookmarked and actually gone back to time and time again.
this cake was amazing im not gifted at baking and i don’t even eat christmas cake but i made this for my mother and she said it was amazing and surgested i brought from a shop. thanks to the large size it ended up being split into 3 parts and sent to grandma, aunt and mother and they’ve all told me to make them one next year so ive got my work cut out next year thank you so much.
Tried it and loved it! So did my husband. Used a square tin for easier cutting. Didn’t bother with the lemon zest but put a good squeeze of fresh lemon in the royal icing. Will be making this one from now on. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi:)
Just a quick question: What is in “mixed spice”?
I live in Denmark…
I’m hosting a cake-party for the family on Boxing day and would love to treat them to something new;)
I came across this recipe by accident whilst looking for some alternate Christmas cakes to bake (am an ex-pat living in Poland) and just love the look of it. Although I have made my traditional cake already (which is busy pickling in a lot of whisky), I’m going to try this one too as I think it’ll be more suitable for children and those who like a lighter cake.