Christmas Cakes – for a Yummy Christmas

It’s been there for generations; every child has woken to it on Christmas morning, they still do and will perhaps continue to in the future. It is the Christmas Cake – the rich aroma of which fills us with memories of our childhood and fills us with anticipation of new and happy moments to come. A Christmas Cake is the soul of a Christmas party. Indeed, any Christmas feast is incomplete without a nice, rich and big Christmas cake.

Christmas Cakes are heavy fruit cakes that can be baked into dark or light, moist or dry, wet or sticky, leavened or unleavened, spongy or heavy, and rectangular or round cakes with a variety of icings and toppings. A traditional Christmas Cake Recipe will require the following ingredients:

• 6oz/175g raisins
• 1lb/450g currants
• 6oz/175g sultanas
• 2oz/50g glace cherries(optional)
• 2oz/50g mixed candied peel chopped
• 8oz/225g plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice
• 8oz/225g unsalted or white butter
• 8oz/225g soft brown sugar
• large eggs – 4
• 2oz/50g chopped almonds
• 1 dessertspoon treacle
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• grated rind of 1 orange
• brandy – 3 tablespoons

How to bake a Rich Fruit Cake for Christmas?

1. The night before making the cake, make sure the dried fruits ad peels are soaked in brandy. Fruits should be left covered overnight or at least for 12 hours before using them.

2. An 18cm/7” square cake tin or a 20cm/8” one should be lined with grease.

3. After sifting the flour, salt and spices together, the butter and sugar should be mixed well until it is light and fluffy.

4. Eggs should be beaten next and added to the mixture pouring a little at a time, beating it well.

5. The flour and spices should be added to the mixture next and also the dried fruits, peels, treacle, orange rind and grated lemon.

6. The mixture should be poured into the greased cake tin. The tin should be then tied with a band of brown paper and covered with a double layer of greaseproof paper. A hole should be cut in the middle of the covering.

7. The cake should be baked at 275F/140C for 4 ¼ – 4 ¾ hours. After it is baked and cooled, it should be wrapped in greaseproof paper and foiled.

8. Every week, few drops of brandy should be poured in the cake through the small holes that should be poked into the cake.

Christmas Cakes will have beautiful decorations that are attractive to look at and delicious to eat. Christmas Cake Decorations are traditionally made with marzipan that is hand-shaped and sculpted into various shapes depicting Christmas. Marzipan decorations can include Christmas trees, reindeers, pink and blue angels, Santa Claus, Santa hats, etc.

Besides the marzipan on traditional Christmas Cakes, cakes can also have a variety of decorations with molted chocolate, chocolate flakes, ground chocolate, ground dried fruits like almonds, cashew nuts, or pistachios, and whipped cream in flavors of vanilla, strawberry, pineapple, orange, almond, etc.