How to make a Traditional Christmas Cake

Описание: Make your Christmas cake now and it will be delicious for the festive period says Amanda Grant, Editor of The Co-operative Food magazine. More on this recipe and others in our free Co-operative food digital magazine at http://smarturl.it/ChristmasCake?IQid...

Christmas cake

Make this cake about 6 weeks before Christmas so that you can feed it with 1-2 tablespoons of alcohol once every fortnight to add to the flavour and keep it moist. Don't feed the cake the week before you ice it, to give the surface a chance to dry slightly before icing.

SERVES ABOUT 24 TAKES ABOUT 1 HOUR TO MAKE + OVERNIGHT TO SOAK + 2 HOURS 45 MINUTES-3 HOURS TO BAKE

FOR THE FRUIT
500g sultanas
250g raisins
250g dried apricots, chopped
200g mixed peel
200g glacé cherries, halved
100g glacé pineapple, chopped
200ml brandy, plus extra for feeding
100ml orange liqueur or liqueur of your choice

FOR THE CAKE MIX
250g unsalted butter
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
200g muscovado sugar or light
soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
5 Co-operative British free range eggs
300g plain flour
100g ground almonds
100g walnut halves, chopped into small pieces

FOR THE ICING
About 350g marzipan
2 tbsp apricot jam
500g white ready to roll icing

PLUS
Icing sugar, for dusting the surface
Festive cutters and a ribbon, to decorate

1 Put all of the dried fruits into a saucepan, add the brandy and your chosen liqueur to the pan and then mix it all together. Bring to a simmer then leave to cool. Cover and leave to soak, preferably overnight.

2 Preheat the oven to 150°C/fan 130°C/Gas 2. Double line the inside and base of a 25cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Then wrap greaseproof paper around the outside of the tin 3 times and tie with string.

3 In a large bowl, beat together the unsalted butter, mixed spice, ground ginger, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest until the mixture is fluffy and creamy in texture.

4 Gradually beat in all of the eggs and some of the flour, and mix really well. Fold in the remaining flour and then stir in the soaked fruits and the nuts. Stir the mixture well.

5 Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 2 hours. Cover the top with 2 layers of greaseproof paper and bake for 45 minutes-1 hour. Take out of the oven and wrap the tin and cake in foil for an hour or so.

6 Once cool, take the cake out of the tin and wrap in greaseproof paper and clingfilm. Feed the cake with brandy or other alcohol once a fortnight until the week before you want to ice the cake. To do this, make little holes in the cake using a skewer and spoon the alcohol over the cake.


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Food safety
Always wash work surfaces, cutting boards, utensils and hands before and after preparing food and after disposal of packaging. Wash fruit and veg before use, especially if eating raw. Make sure stored poultry is properly wrapped and kept at the bottom of the fridge, at or below 5°C. Do not wash raw poultry, and use different knives for raw meat than other foods. Ensure poultry is cooked thoroughly before consuming.