Home Crafts: Traditional Christmas Cake

Traditional Christmas Cakes are a great festive treat! There are many variations on the recipe (ours is adapted from a tried and tested and delicious BBC one) and you might have your own methods. However, if you're new to christmas baking, or simply looking for an alternative then try out this recipe.

Ingredients

225g/8oz plain flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
200g/7oz butter
200g/7oz dark brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
1 tbsp marmalade
¼ tsp vanilla essence
4 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
800g/1¾lb mixed dried fruits
100g/3½oz chopped mixed peel
150g/5oz glacé cherries, halved
100g/3½oz blanched almonds, chopped
brandy

To decorate

200g/7oz Marzipan

1-2 tbsp warmed apricot jam

Royal Icing

3 free-range egg whites

600g/11lb/5oz sieved icing sugar

1 1/2 tsp liquid glycerine

1 tbsp lemon juice 

Preparation

Firstly, preheat your oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Grease all around an 8inch round tin or a 7inch square one and the line both the base and sides with greaseproof paper. Next sieve the flour, the salt, the cinnamon and the mixed spices into a bowl. In a separate bowl, Cream the butter and the sugar and then mix them with the treacle, marmalade and vanilla essence until they are light and fluffy. Crack your eggs and mix them in a bit at a time adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture (first bowl) with the last of the eggs. Following this, fold in the remaining flour mixture until they are well mixed and then add the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries and almonds. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.

Baking

You must now bake your cake in the oven for 3 hours, testing it with a skewer. If it is not ready bake it for up to another hour, testing it every 20 minutes until the skewer comes out clean. Take the cake from the oven, leaving it to cool in the tin for 15 minutes. After this, turn it out on to a wire rack. Once the cake has fully cooled you should poke a few holes into the cake with a skewer and pour 3 or 4 tablespoons of brandy over the cake, letting it soak in.

The cake is then ready to be wrapped in foil and placed in an airtight tin or plastic container, holes side up. If you want the cake to be rich and moist then spoon on a few tablespoons of brandy every week until you are ready to ice and decorate the cake.

Decorating

In order to decorate the cake, put it on a foil board or plate. Dust your hands and then work the surface with a little icing sugar, kneading the marzipan until it is soft. Roll out half of the marzipan, fitting the top of the cake. The other half should be rolled out in strips to fit around the sides of the cake. Warm the apricot jam, brushing it all over the cake and using it as a glue for the marzipan. Cover your cake with a clean tea towl, leaving it in a cool place for at least a day. In order to make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites, occasioanlly adding the sugar at intervals. Beat it well until the icing reaches soft peaks, adding the glycerine and lemon juice. Spread the icing all over the cake using a clean ruler or by forming soft peaks. Decorate with Christmas ornaments.

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