Christmas Cake
- 8oz Plain Flour
- 8oz of butter or margarine
- 8oz of soft brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons of powdered ginger
- 2 teaspoons of nutmeg
- 1 and 1/2 lbs of mixed dried fruit which should include, sultanas, currants, seedless raisins and orange peel.
- 1 packet of dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons of brandy
- 2 tablespoons of sherry
- 4 tablespoons of maple syrup
- 3 tubs of glace cherries
Put all the dried fruit into a bowl and add all the brandy and sherry and leave for about a couple of hours stirring the odd time. Line a 9 inch cake tin with greaseproof paper and brush with melted butter. Cut some brown paper twice the height of the tin and tie around the tin with string. This stops the cake from burning on the top.
Mix the butter or margarine and the brown sugar until a soft paste. Add an egg and a tablespoon of flour, repeat until the eggs and flour are all mixed in.
Add the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and all the dried fruit that has been soaked in the brandy and sherry. Add the maple syrup. Stop the mixer and add in the cherries stirring by hand so that the cherries stay whole. Put the mixture in the tin and level off with a knife.
Place in the middle of a pre heated oven at 150 degrees centigrade. Leave in the oven for about 2 hours then turn the oven down to 100 degrees for the final hour. To test if your cake is ready take a barbeque skewer and push into the middle of the cake, if it comes out cleanly your cake is ready.
A Christmas cake is a fun thing to make, you can substitute the maple syrup for a tablespoon of golden syrup and a tablespoon of black treacle. If you live in the United States, molasses is a good substitute for treacle.
When your cake is lovely and brown turn out onto a baking rack till cool. Keep in an airtight container and every week put some skewer holes into the cake and dribble a teaspoon of brandy over the cake until near Christmas and then decorate just before the ‘big day’. You will find a recipie for almond paste and royal icing in my next post.