Hannah's Christmas Cake

I love Christmas.  It's as simple as that.  Mince pies, carols, sparkly trees - what more could anyone want?!  

Well, one integral aspect of the celebrations in my household is Christmas cake.  And I know lots of people say they don't like it (too dense, too fruity, too whatever else) but it really does capture the essence of Christmas, so I thought I'd share my version with you.  It''s originally a Nigella recipe, but I've made quite a lot of changes, creating what I think is the perfect Christmas cake.  Hope you like it too!

Ingredients

1kg sultanas

350g raisins

175g currants

175g glace cherries (I use a mixture of the Provencal and standard varieties), halved

175g mixed peel

200ml brandy

350g soft unsalted butter

270g soft brown sugar

1.5 teaspoons grated orange zest

1.5 teaspoons grated lemon zest

10 eggs

3 tablespoons treacle

525g plain flour

0.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1.5 teaspoons mixed spice

0.25 teaspoons cinnamon

0.25 teaspoons nutmeg

Pinch of salt

100g brazil nuts

75g macadamias

100g strip almonds (or the flaked variety)

Method

Two or three days before

Place all of the fruit (except the mixed peel) in a large bowl and add the brandy.  Use a large wooden spoon to mix thoroughly, then cover with cling film.  Place in the fridge.

To prepare the tin(s)

[You can either use one 25cm tin or two smaller tins (round or square).  I personally favour the latter option because I find one cake too hefty and thick, but it's completely up to you.]

1. Line the sides and bottom of your tin or tins with two layers of baking parchment.  The parchment should rise above the rim of your tin(s) by at least 7cm.

2. Grease the baking parchment well.

3. As you will be wrapping brown paper around the tin(s) before the cake(s) go(es) into the oven, it's good to prepare this beforehand.  I find that buying large sheets of brown paper and folding them in half or in three (lengthways) does the trick.

4. Get some sturdy string or rope ready - you'll be using this to secure the brown paper around the cake(s).

5. Fold a square (or two) of brown paper - your cake will be sitting on this in the oven.

[If you're unsure about all this, do see the photos below.]

To make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Place the nuts on two separate baking trays - the almonds on one and the macadamias & brazils on the other.  (Do not shove all the nuts on one tray as the strip almonds will roast quicker than the other nuts.)

3. Roast the nuts in the oven until they are lightly toasted - 4/5 minutes should do the trick for the almonds; 10 minutes for the others.  Make sure they do not burn.

Brazils & cashews - note that there are more here than stated in the recipe as I was planning to make more cakes later on.

Almonds - note that there are more here than stated in the recipe as I was planning to make more cakes later on.

4. Take the nuts out and let them cool.  Reduce the oven temperature to 150C.

5. Once the brazils & macadamias are cool, chop them up roughly into smallish chunks (see photo at 8 below).

6. Take the fruit out of the fridge and add the mixed peel.  Mix well.

7. In another large bowl or over some newspaper, sift the dry ingredients together.

The flour mixture

8. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the flour mixture over the fruit, and another tablespoon over the nuts.  Combine well.  (This is to ensure that they don't fall to the bottom of the cake while baking.)

Fruit + flour.

Nuts + flour (sorry the almonds can't be seen - they're at the bottom!)

9. Cream the butter and sugar together at high speed, until the mixture is a very pale brown colour.  

Before

After.  Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl like this.

10. Grate the lemon and orange peel into the butter & sugar mixture and combine on low speed.

I personally like large, thick pieces of peel in my Christmas cake, but whatever floats your boat.

11. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  [I know 10 seems like a lot of eggs, but you'll have to trust me on this!]

Note: Breaking the eggs into a separate jug is generally a good idea - it means that you won't contaminate your cake batter with a bad egg, plus you can fish shells out pretty easily.

This is what your batter should look like after the addition of 10 eggs.  I know it looks gross & watery at this stage, but I promise this'll all change once the other ingredients have been added.

12. Add the treacle & combine on low speed.

Even more gross-looking, but do stay with me!

13. Using a large wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients and the fruit to the batter.  Alternate between the two - so start with a heaped tablespoon of the flour mixture, followed by two heaped tablespoons of the fruit.  Make sure to end with a tablespoon of the flour mixture.  Combine well, but do not beat.

14. Finally, add the nuts to the mixture.  Combine well.

As you can see, the batter is now thick and creamy.

15. Scoop up some of the batter with your spoon and lift it high into the air.  If it falls off the spoon with ease, perfect.  However, if it's too dry, add a dash of whole milk and mix well.

To assemble the tin(s)

1. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared tin(s).  Fill it/them to the top as this cake doesn't really rise. Smooth out the top(s) of the batter to avoid an uneven bake.

Cake #1

Cake #2

2. Wrap brown paper around the tin(s) and secure it/them tightly with string or rope.

3. Put the tin(s) into the oven on top of a wire rack and squares of brown paper.

Baking time

If you have one large cake, it should take about 4/4.5 hours to bake.  If you have two smaller cakes, they should be done in about 2/2.5 hours (but if you have different sized tins, obviously adjust the baking time accordingly). 

When your cake(s) have been in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, reduce the temperature to 140C.

Check on your cake(s) regularly.  If you see that they are getting too brown, cover them with a sheet of aluminium foil.  Make sure that there is a hole in the middle of the foil to allow steam to escape.

Your cakes will be fully baked when a cake tester comes out completely clean.

When your cakes are done

1. Switch the oven off and leave the cakes to cool inside overnight.

2. When the cakes are completely cold, unravel all the paper so that they are completely bare.

3. Tear off two long sheets of baking parchment and place them in a 't' shape.  Place a cake where the sheets of paper meet.

4. Get a bottle of brandy, a toothpick, a small bowl and a teaspoon.  Pour some brandy into the bowl (not much - about 50ml should be fine) and dip the toothpick in it.  Use the toothpick to poke holes in the cake (try to get about 80% of the way through) and pour drops of brandy in with the teaspoon.  Do this across the whole cake.

5. Wrap the cakes up with the baking parchment and another layer of aluminium foil.  Place in the fridge.

Just before Christmas

To ensure that your cake is very moist (and very alcoholic!), unwrap it and infuse it with brandy by repeating steps 1-4 above.  Wrap it up again until it's time to serve it.

I know this is relatively tricky and time-consuming, but it's only done once a year and may be considered a real labour of love.  Plus, fruitcake keeps for ages so you can enjoy it way after Christmas - it's a great pick me up when you're feeling a little low!