Christmas Cake
Classic rich fruit cake, finished with marzipan and icing.
Equipment
- 8 inch Cake Tin or your chosen size
Ingredients
- 450 g Currants
- 200 g Sultanas
- 200 g Seedless Raisins
- 150 g Glace Cherries (Candied Cherries) halved
- 75 g Dried Mixed Peel (Candied Mixed Peel)
- Zest of 1 Orange
- 100-200 ml Orange Juice or Brandy
- 275 g Butter or Margarine
- 275 g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
- 5 Free-range Eggs
- 75 g Ground Almonds
- 350 g Plain Flour (All-purpose Flour)
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice (Pumpkin Spice)
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Makes: 8inch round
Instructions
Pre-soak Your Fruit:
- In a large bowl, weigh out your currants, sultanas, raisins, glace cherries, mixed peel and orange zest. Pour over your brandy/orange juice and give everything a good mix. Cover the bowl and leave in a safe place to soak overnight.
The Next Day:
- Preheat your oven to 150°c (130°c for fan-assisted ovens, Gas Mark 2 or 300°F). Grease and line your 8 inch cake tin with grease proof paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl (separate to the one you have your fruit soaking), cream together your butter/margarine and sugar. Add your eggs, one at a time, ensuring each is mixed through before adding the next. Mix through your ground almonds.
- Sift in your flour, mixed spice and cinnamon, before mixing together to create a somewhat thick batter.
- Mix your cake batter with your soaked dried fruit, ensuring all the fruit is coated. Transfer the mixture to your pre-lined cake tin, spreading to the edges. Using your spoon, create a slight dip in the centre of the cake (this helps prevent it rising too much).
- Wrap your cake tin brown parcel paper, secured with string. And cover the top of your cake with a dampened piece of greaseproof paper. Pop your Christmas cake onto a oven tray (as opposed to directly on the oven shelf) and into your pre-heated oven.
- Bake for 3½-4 hours. Check your cake after 3 hours and if it looks like it is baking quicker than expected, turn down your oven a little. Depending on your oven, your cake should be ready after [around] 3½-4 hours baking but you can insert a skewer into the middle of the cake to check - if it comes out clean, your cake is baked through.
- Remove your cake from the oven and allow to cool completely whilst still in it's tin. Once completely cool, remove the cake from the tin but keep the greaseproof lining on the cake. Cover the top of the cake with some extra greaseproof paper, and wrap well in cling film and tin foil, placing your cake somewhere safe to mature before decorating for Christmas.
- If you wish to feed your cake, keep it well wrapped for a couple of weeks before unwrapping and poking a few holes into the top. Brush the cake with some extra brandy or orange juice* before wrapping and storing the cake again. You can repeat this process a couple of times, if you wish. Try not to feed your cake for at least a week before you plan to decorate.*Exercise caution when using orange juice to feed a Christmas cake. Unlike alcohol, it will not be sterile and could cause your cake to mould if overfed or stored incorrectly.
To Decorate:
- You can finish your Christmas cake with a layer of marzipan, followed by a layer of fondant icing or royal icing, and top with whatever décor you desire.
Notes
This recipe is for an 8-inch round Christmas Cake. Please see our FREE Christmas Cake Ingredient Quantities Guide for the ingredient lists and baking times of smaller and larger cake sizes.