As we are approaching Christmas soon, I thought it was about time I made my Christmas cake, as the Hubster and In-law like the alcoholic Christmas cake, which means I've got a few weeks of feeding this sober cake and make him rather drunk ready for Christmas!
A Christmas cake is light or dark, crumbly-moist, heavy, shaped round with marzipan and royal icing or plain and simple maybe even a dusting of icing sugar. Usually drenched with Whisky or Brandy and full of dried fruit and spices.
A Christmas cake made with alcohol or fed with alcohol tends to keep very well, up to 3 months. You need to store in a container in a cool dark cupboard or pantry and feed with alcohol twice a week. This also means you can prepare if in advance so that the cake can take on full flavour and you have time to do all the Christmas shopping.
Ingredients
100g Mixed Dried Fruit
100g Raisins
150g Glace Cherries
200g Currants
150g Sultanas
75ml Sherry
1 Orange Zest
125g Butter
125g Light Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Tbsp Treacle
40g Ground Almonds
125g Plain Flour
1 Tsp Mixed
Add the raisins, cherries, currants, sultanas, orange zest and sherry to a bowl, cover and allow to soak over night.
Add eggs, treacle, brown sugar and butter to a mixing bowl and beat together.
Add flour, ground almonds and mix spice to the mixture and mix for about 1 minute.
Add all the soaked fruit and juices to mixture
Stir well making sure all the fruit is mixed in.
Grease and double line a cake tin, pour in the batter and level the top.
Bake in the oven for 4-4 1/2 hours at 140c until the cake tester becomes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely, if storing the cake ( can store up to 3 months) then feed the cake twice a week with a little sherry.
Add a ribbon around the cake and sprinkle on some silver sugar balls. Enjoy
Simply decorated easy rich, sweet and fruity Christmas Cake.