It’s that time again…already!

Around this time every year I have a lil’ tradition…I bake a Christmas cake! Not just any Christmas cake, this is my Nana’s Christmas cake! I’ve been making it for as long as I can remember, first with my Mama’s help and now all by myself and though I’ve tweaked it over the years, I always stick to my Nana’s same basic method because its fool-proof and my family and friends love it! And there’s another reason…my Nana passed away 4 years before I was born. She was, I’ve been told, a born homemaker and a wonderful baker! The recipe I work from is in her own hand and making this cake, following her recipe, makes me feel close to her! I guess that’s the emotive power of food – it can be comforting, it can cheer you up, make you feel nostalgic or in this case, become a family tradition that’s passed down through generations…the fact that it tastes yummy doesn’t hurt either!

Enjoy!

Xx

Ingredients:

5oz (140g) Softened Butter

5oz (140g) Soft Dark Brown Sugar

3 Medium Eggs

6oz (170g) Plain Flour

¼ tsp Salt

1 tsp Mixed Spice  

1lb (450g) Mixed Dried Fruit

2oz (50g) Glace Cherries

1oz Candied Peel

1oz (25g) Flaked Almonds

Grated Zest of 1 Orange

1 tbsp Brandy

1 tbsp Water

Method:

•    Put all of the dried (inc. the glace cherries and mixed peel) in a large saucepan, add the brandy and the water. Bring to a gentle boil then allow to cool before covering. Leave for 24 hours. Don’t forget to allow the eggs and butter to come to room temperature.

•   Pre-heat the oven to 125°c. Grease and line your tin with grease-proof paper or baking parchment, I use a 15cm square tin but a 20cm round tin would work too,  just make sure that the grease-proof is twice the height of the tin.

•  Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of sieved flour, beating well between yet addition.  Sieve in the remaining flour, along with the mixed spice and the salt - just fold in, don’t beat.

•    Stir in the soaked fruit, almonds and grated orange zest until combined.

•   Pour into the lined tin, making a hollow in the centre. Bake in the middle of the oven on 125°c for 1hour, then reduce the temperature to 115°c for a further 1 hour 30 minutes before reducing the temperature to 100°c for a final 1 hour. By now the cake should be golden brown and firm to the touch.

• Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool in the tin (if the cake has cracked cover with a damp cloth). Once the cake is cold, remove from the tin, wrap in tin foil and store in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to decorate…I usually ice mine on Christmas Eve. For an extra moist and yummy cake, prick holes in the top with a needle and ‘feed’ the cake with brandy or sherry once every few weeks in the run up to Christmas. 

P.S. I tweaked my cake this year by adding 1oz each of ready-to-eat Dates and Prunes to the fruit mixture and I topped up the brandy when soaking the fruit – 200ml…not sure my Nana would have approved of that! I also added a tablespoon of Black Treacle and ½ teaspoon of Almond extract after I creamed the butter and sugar but before adding the eggs. Finally I used Walnuts and Hazelnut as well as Almonds, still only 1oz in total and added ½ oz of finely chopped stem ginger. These are all purely optional and the original recipe makes a wonderful cake and makes the house smell deliciously festive!