
Nothing says Christmas quite like food and nothing says Christmas food quite like a rich fruit cake. The spices, the brandy the citrus... The smell alone can transport the biggest Scrooge into festive rhapsodies.
This particular recipe is based on one found in my grandmother's 1950s Radiation cookbook. According to the introduction in the book, it was compiled in 1927 for those using the Regulo New World Cooker. My grandmother used an Aga to cook so she adapted the recipe to suit her tastes and I have further adapted it over the years.
What is so lovely about this Christmas cake recipe is that it is all mixed in one bowl and, whilst there are quite a few ingredients, you will very likely have many of them already in your pantry. But, most importantly, it tastes really good! Fruit cake is so often cloyingly sweet, but this recipe does not have a lot of sugar added as there is plenty of additional sweetness from the fruit.
If you prefer not to have any alcohol in the cake you can of course leave it out. The use of the brandy is to add flavour, but it also helps the cake to store for longer and stay moist.
Before you make the cake, it is a good idea to soak the dried fruit. Personally, I like to do this a good few weeks in advance, but even a couple of days will make all the difference. I usually soak them in a mixture of brandy, ginger wine, and sherry, but you can use whatever you have. Again if you prefer it to be alcohol-free you could soak them in fruit juice or black tea.
A few days before you are ready to serve the cake you have the option to cover it with marzipan and icing. Traditionally, we have always used marzipan alone as I find that the icing makes it all too sweet.
Whichever you decide to use make sure that you brush warmed jam over the surface of the cake to help the marzipan stick to it.
Christmas Cake

Ingredients
8oz brown sugar
8oz butter
8oz all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2tsp mixed spice
1/2tsp allspice
8oz sultanas (see note)
8oz currants
8oz raisins
4oz glace cherries
4oz mixed chopped peel
4oz ground almonds
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
6 medium eggs
2tbsp dark treacle
4floz milk
2floz brandy plus 1oz for feeding (see note)
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C and prepare a 9" springform cake tin by lining it with parchment paper.
Beat the butter and sugar together to a cream, add in the eggs and and beat until well combined.
Stir in the sifted flour, ground almonds, salt, spices, fruit, treacle and 60ml brandy.
Mix well together and pour into the prepared tin.
Bake for 40 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 140 and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes more.
Heat the remaining brandy and using a skewer, make holes randomly through the cake. carefully spoon the brandy over the cake ensuring that some goes into the holes.
Allow the cake to cool completely.
You can serve the cake as it is or store it in an airtight container until you are ready to serve it (see note).
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