Recipe for a Luxury Christmas Cake
By Catherine R
Yesterday I made my Christmas Cake. I would like to share this fantastic recipe which I have used many times. It is foolproof and the cake is astoundingly delicious. You won't find a better cake in Harrods! It is rich with fruit and nuts and I like to make it a couple of months before Christmas and then give it a little injection of a brandy and sherry combination every few weeks. By the time December arrives the cake is nicely matured, boozy and moist.
Later I will write a hub on icing and decorating the cake but for now it should be wrapped up snug in tinfoil and stored in an airtight container. It should only be iced closer to eating time.
You need to set aside a good 6 hours to make this cake as it cooks for a long time at a low temperature which is what sets it apart from other fruit cakes.
Ingredients
200g (7 oz) sugar
125g (4 1/2 oz) butter
250 ml (1 cup) water
250 ml (1 cup) raisins
250 ml (1 cup) currants
250 ml (1 cup) sultanas
125 ml (1/2 cup) candied peel
125 ml (1/2 cup) mixed nuts
125 ml (1/2 cup) dates
125 ml (1/2 cup) crystallised fruit
125 ml (1/2 cup) cherries
5ml (1 teaspoon) bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs, beaten
500 ml (2 cups) flour
5ml (1 teaspoon) baking powder
pinch salt
30 ml brandy
Extra brandy and medium sherry
20 cm (7 inch) cake tin
Method
- Place the sugar, butter and water in a saucepan and heat gently till melted. Add raisins, currants and sultanas - bring to boil and simmer for twenty minutes.
- Add candied peel, nuts, dates, chrystallised fruit and cherries to above mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add bicarbonate of soda. Stir well and leave to cool.
- When the mixture is cool enough not to cook the eggs then add them.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the fruit mixture. Add brandy last thing.
- Line your cake tin with foil. Make an outer wrapping of about 12 layers of newspaper and tie it around your tin with string. Stand your tin on a pad of 24 layers of newspaper. See photograph.
- Scrape mixture into tin, sprinkle with water and place a foil lid on top.
- Bake at 150 C (300F) for the first hour. Then reduce temperature to 120 C (250 F) and continue to cook. Sprinkle with water every so often. This way the cake steam cooks. It takes ages to cook - mine took about 5 hours. But it is deliciously moist, very evenly cooked with none of the burnt top that fruit cakes can sometimes have. You will need to test it with a skewer to see when it is done as ovens vary.
- Remove from oven and make a few holes with a skewer and then douse with 20 mls brandy/sherry mix.
- When it is cool then wrap it up in foil and store in an airtight container. Every few weeks you can give it an extra few mls of brandy/sherry mix if you like.
Comments
It's worth the effort. It is so much nicer than a shop bought cake. Easy - you can't go wrong!
Sounds great Catherine! Thanks! I've copy-pasted it onto my Desktop and hope to be able to put it together in a couple of days - look forward to the icing tips too!
Thanks Shalini - I am sure you will enjoy it.
I was always told how hard this cake was to make yet you make it seem 'doable' Thank you, Kimberly
Sounds good. I like a good christmas cake. However, most are not that good.
I will of course be baking this cake this very weekend. My only concern is that it seems a little small in only a 20cm tin - it won't last long!
ok, you have actually managed to make a holiday fruitcake look good! seriously i am going to try this this holiday season. i will let you know how it comes out!
Thanks everyone - really easy I promise! Just remember it takes forever to cook. Jean H - it is so rich that you will only eat small slices I don't think it is too small but you could double it if you want it to feed lots of people or if you are especially greedy! I found that I had to buy enough currants, sultanas etc to make two cakes anyway - which you may also find to be the case.
Oh, that looks so good! But I have to remember my diet. I gotta stay off these cooking hubs for the duration. Something that yummy would be my downfall! ut your cooking expertise is so much greater than mine. This was a nice share--I'm sure everyone appreciates it. Thanks, Catherine!
Thanks Paradise. I could only make this cake now because I knew we wouldn't be eating it till December when I will be finished my diet! I will have to hide it away!
This brings back memories of my grandmothers fruit cake. She would make several at holiday time and send them to us. I like the way you steam the cake instead of straight bake it. I'm not a baker, but I may try this one. Thanks!
Great Hub - I think I must link to your hub for aspiring cake decorators who are looking for a cake recipe.
Thanks Jai - have a go!
Laura - that would be great! When icing time comes it will be quite simple! But I think a Christmas cake looks classy with less. But when I do the icing hub I will be more than happy to link to your hub on fondant icing - or others.
Well the cake is now in the oven. You are right about having to buy enough ingredients to make two cakes - and what else would I do with half a bag of currants?! So I will make another - which will be a good use of all the lining and newspaper which took a while to construct. I found, just as I was about to put the cake in the oven, that I had left out the brandy - a critical error, so I quickly poured the rest of my bottle of brandy into the tin and gave it a bit of a stir. Hopefully it will all settle down over the next 6 hours... Now I need to buy more brandy - an expensive business, this Christmas cake making!
After 20 mins in the oven I am also feeling a slight concern about the smell of burnt newspaper emanating from the oven...
I hope your cake lasts until Christmas. If I were anywhere near a thing as good as that I could not keep my hands off it. So . . . . .
Jean H - don't worry about the burning newspaper smell. I had that too and there was no fire! Yes - not a cheap cake but have a look and see how much Harrods charge for their cakes - and yours will seem cheap. Save your currants etc for my Christmas mincemeat recipe which will be coming shortly!
Mustard - it's all about discipline!
Cheers, I'd love to give this ago. Cakes baked at home are healthier than the ones sold in shops. Thanks for the Recipe. :)
What is amazing is that Christmas cake, or any fruit cake is almost considered an insult over here - you give someone a cake if you don't really like them! I miss the good old Christmas Cake - my mum used to make the best...and her date and walnut cake was amazing! Thanks for the memories!
Thanks Lady E - hope you enjoy. Yes much healthier - no additives.
SimeyC - I am amazed to hear that! Don't the Americans eat Christmas cake then? It is so delicious! How weird.
Thank for the Christmas cake recipe,it sounds delicious and simply divine. than you for sharing it. creativeone59
Catherine, your Christmas Cake hub intrigued me amidst the hubs found in the Hubnuggets House of Wax! Well, I'm a Christmas fan, that's for sure! LOL Congratulations for your nomination and enjoy the cake making with the Hubnuggets. Vote and promote please...http://hubpages.com/_hubnuggets10/hub/house-of-wax
Thank you creativeone and ripplemaker - of course I am delighted to be nominated but did think it a strange choice myself!
Nothing strange about it. Your hub met the criteria and so you are in! LOL Enjoy the Hubnuggets! Vote and promote... :D
This recipe sounds like a cake a co-worker baked for the office one year. It was very delicious. Congrats on being selected to the Hubnuggets wannabes and good luck!
Thank you so much!
Icing and decorating a fruitcake?! I never heard of such a thing. I hope you have pictures when you do that hub! Congrats on another HubNuggets nomination.
Thanks rmcrayne. Very traditional Christmas cake - but obviously not to Americans I am finding out! Sure will do pictures of the icing.
I'll be publishing a hub closer to X-mas with 3 fruitcake recipes, including my mom's that is my very favorite. I figure I'll wait for whatever the holiday HubMob is. We'll have to compare notes. And maybe trade links ;)
Sure! Look forward to seeing your recipes.
This sounds wonderful.... I am going to have to try it :)
Congrats on your nomination, Catherine :)
Hi Catherine R! I love this cake. Question: How do I sprinkle it with water while it is in the oven? Do I uncover the cake?
I usually just put a loose stack of paper on top of the cake which you can lift off easily to sprinkle with water. Don't be alarmed if it takes longer than five hours to cook - just made one recently which seemed to take about 7 hours! Still just as good though. Enjoy!
what sort of flour and what sort of sugar do you use?
Stephen P 2 years ago
It sounds really nice. I'm not a very good cook but I'm going to give it a try.