Now I know it's nowhere near Christmas yet and normally in our house all talk
of Christmas is banned until at least December, but November really is the
right time to make your Christmas cake and I'm going to tell you why.
Packed with fruit and then fed with cherry brandy this cake is going to be
the most delicious Christmas cake ever. Now we start with a large pan and to
that we're going to add 175 grams or 3/4 of a cup of unsalted butter,
next in goes 210 grams or a packed cup of light brown Muscovado sugar then 400 grams or 2 and
2/3 of a cup of mixed dried fruit, 200 grams or a cup of glace cherries that
have been roughly chopped, 100 grams or a cup of dried cranberries the zest and
juice of one orange,
the zest of one lemon and about 120 ml or 1/2 a cup of cherry brandy.
Heat on a medium heat until that comes to a gentle bubble and then we're going to allow
that to simmer for about 10 minutes just stirring occasionally.
After that 10 minutes is up we're going to take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool
slightly and then we'll preheat the oven to 150 C or 300 F.
Now we want to line a
20 centimeter cake tin with a removable base so I've cut a couple of strips of
bacon parchment here and that's gonna lie on the sides of the tin it needs to
be higher than the sides of the tin so an inch and a half to two inches higher
than the sides and that will help to protect the cake and stop it from
burning in the oven, and then to line the base of the tin we're going to cut out a
circle. Take a large piece of baking parchment and fold it over once then
again and finally for a third time and then place the point of the parchment in
the center of the baking tin and then we're going to cut following the line of
the edge of the baking tin and unfold it and that should give you a perfect
circle.
Line the sides of the baking tin first and then place the center circle
inside.
We're gonna add in 85 grams or 1/2 a cup of ground almonds and then give that a stir.
Then add in 3 large eggs and stir together,
and finally we're going to add
in the dry ingredients.
We need 200 grams or a cup and 2/3 of plain (all-purpose)
flour, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of mixed spice, a teaspoon of
ground cinnamon and quarter of a teaspoon of ground allspice.
Spoon the mixture into the lined baking tin.
That's going in the oven for 45 minutes and then after 45 minutes we're going to
turn the oven down to 140 degrees C or 275 F and cook for a further hour to an
hour and a half until the top of the cake is a lovely dark golden brown and
then inserted skewer comes out clean if it looks at the top of the cake is
starting to darken too much you can just place some foil on top.
Once cooked want to remove the cake from the oven and make ten to twelve holes all over it
with a skewer.
Whilst it's still warm we're going to spoon four tablespoons of
cherry brandy on top.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin then remove from the tin and wrap in a double
layer of baking parchment and then a layer of foil and place in an airtight
container at room temperature.
Feed the cake with two tablespoons of cherry brandy every week right up until
a few days before you want to marzipan and ice the cake and that's why we make
the cake in November so you can give it a good few feedings for a deliciously
moist cake with a rich flavor.