The British Christmas cake is not a recipe that you would typically make at any other time of year. For the uninitiated, it’s very much a seasonal treat, that contains lots of ingredients that would have been very expensive back in the day; bursting with dried fruits and nuts, and seasoned with exotic spices, this cake is about extravagance.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time4 hourshrs
Total Time4 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Servings: 25slices
Calories: 315kcal
Ingredients
Fruits
400gcurrants
250graisins
100gdried cranberries
100gglacé cherries
150gcandied peel
150mlbrandy
Dry Ingredients
250gplain flour
1tspmixed spice
1tspground cinnamon
1tspground nutmeg
1/4tspground cloves
Wet Ingredients
250gunsalted butter
250glight soft brown sugar
4largeeggs
finely grated zest of an orange
finely grated zest of a lemon
1tbspblack treacle
Nuts
100gslivered almonds
50gpistachios (roughly chopped)
Instructions
The night before you want to make the cake, put all the fruits and candied peel in a large bowl, and stir through the brandy.
Cover with some clingfilm, and leave overnight for the fruit to absorb the liquid.
The next day, preheat the oven to 140 C, and grease and line a deep 18 cm (7") square cake tin, or a 20cm (8") round cake tin.
Sift the dry ingredients together, and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the citrus zest and black treacle, stirring again to incorporate.
Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Add the dried fruit mixture and the nuts, and fold through until well distributed.
Transfer the batter to the cake tin, and smooth over as much as possible. Wrap the outside of the cake tin in brown paper or newspaper, and tie with string.
Place a piece of baking parchment over the top of the cake, with a steam hole cut into the middle. The parchment should be balanced on top of the collar, not touching the batter. This will shield some of the direct heat, and help prevent the cake from browning too quickly.
Bake for 4 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.
When cool, remove from the tin, and use a skewer to make holes all over the cake, right to the bottom.Spoon a couple of tablespoons of brandy over the cake, encouraging it into the holes as much as possible.
The cake can be stored for at least 6 weeks like this, being fed with more brandy once a week. Do not feed the cake brandy for the week before decorating.
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