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The Most Delicious Decadent Christmas Cake

After being faced with the reality that I’m going to have to start thinking about Christmas trees, house decorations, food, and presents pretty rapidly, I decided to get going with my first festive tradition: the Christmas cake.

In fact, I usually end up making three main cakes for my three children, another smaller version for my siblings, and then two even smaller versions for my grandkids to decorate.

An easy and delicious Christmas cake, loaded with all the flavours you love—this really is the best!

Delicious Christmas Cake

Prep time: 60 MINUTES
1 HOUR 30 MINUTES TO COOK
Additional time: 2 HOURS
Total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes

This delicious fruit cake

I have been looking for a special Christmas cake recipe to share with you. I know everyone has their favorite, but I am so often asked for a good recipe, so I thought I would share one that was highly recommended to me!

This one comes from my mom-in-law. My mom-in-law had a taste of this Christmas cake and declared it one of the best she had ever tasted.

Her efforts were successful in locating the formula, which I am now able to access. In the case of truly excellent dishes, this is how it ought to be. This can be a staple year-round, a lovely moist fruit cake, not only for Christmas!

There are many variations of a similar recipe online. This delicious Christmas cake is lovely, moist, and flavorful, and with the addition of the dark brown sugar, it becomes rich without being too heavy or dark. Which means you can enjoy this as is, uniced and fresh. It will keep incredibly well and can be made well ahead of time. Most fruit cakes improve as the days go by, and this one is no exception.

Ingredients

  • 2kg Cake Fruit Mix
  • 2 kg Black currants
  • 75 grams of glace cherries
  • 500 grams of pecan nuts
  • 500 grams Almonds
  • 1.5 kg of Choice Butter, room temperature
  • 600 grams of brown sugar
  • Brandy
  • 600ml of cold water
  • 8 Cups Self-rising  Flour
  • Bread Crumbs
  • 1 Whole Bottle Of Mixed Spice
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 15 Eggs

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, place the fruit mix, butter, sugar, and water.
  2. Over medium heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the butter and sugar have dissolved.
  3. Remove from the heat and set aside until the mixture is cool.
  4. Now add 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, mix, and set aside to cool completely.
  5. Approximately 4 hours later, preheat the oven to 150 °C.
  6. Prepare your baking tin, round or square. I have used a 20-cm (8-inch) round tin.
  7. Grease the base and sides of the tin and place baking paper measured to size in the base and up the sides, ensuring the entire surface is covered
  8. Add to the pot of fruit the flour, mixed spice, and beaten eggs and combine well.
  9. Now add the required amount of brandy.
  10. Spoon into the prepared tin on a smooth surface and bake for up to one and a half hours. All ovens vary, so begin to test just after an hour. The skewer needs to come out with no batter remaining, and the centre should spring back to the touch.
  11. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely in the tin.
  12. Once the cake is cold, carefully remove it to a wire rack. See the notes above for instructions on how to store it.
  13. Ensure your fruit cake is well stored in an airtight container.
  14. Can be stored at room temperature, in the fridge, or frozen.

Enjoy!

The first step to creating delicious plump fruit is to boil many of the ingredients together initially, for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. This ensures the butter and sugar melt into the fruit mix. Then you allow the mixture to completely cool; this allows the fruit to absorb all the delicious moisture and creates a lovely end result.

Cooling can take anywhere up to 4 or more hours, depending on the room temperature. You can even do this step the night before, and by morning the fruit mix will be completely cold. Then it is a simple matter of adding the dry ingredients and eggs, then baking. Baking takes around an hour and a half.

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions when baking Christmas Cakes 

WHAT IS A BOILED CHRISTMAS CAKE?

A boiled Christmas cake isn’t actually a boiled cake; rather, it refers to the method of boiling the fruit mix to add extra plumpness and moisture to the end result. For this cake, you boil the mix with butter, sugar, and water for 10 to 15 minutes, then allow it to completely cool before adding additional ingredients.

WHAT IS MIXED SPICE?

This blend of spices is a very British thing; it is a combination of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, ginger, and cloves. Used in both sweet and savoury baking, it is lovely.

Do I have to line my cake tin?

Yes! So important. The last thing you want after preparing the cake is for it to not come away from the sides of the tin. Greasing the tin and lining it with baking paper is a simple but important step.

How far ahead can I make my Christmas cake?

This is very personal; some make it fresh, some 6 weeks ahead, some 12 weeks, others 3 months or more for the very rich type cakes! For this cake, you can make it and enjoy it fresh. For others, they prefer to “feed” the cake, which involves brushing with alcohol to increase freshness and flavour over the weeks leading up to Christmas. Others will make it and freeze it until needed.

Is it possible to freeze my Christmas cake?

Yes definitely! This can be made and frozen for several months. How you store it is key. First wrap in two layers of baking paper, then in two layers of tinfoil. Be careful that the foil does not touch the cake. Then in an airtight container. If you are feeding your cake, you would remove it every few weeks to add your alcohol.

I use brandy after adding all the ingredients and baking. So flavorful and delicious!

What is the best alcohol to use in my Christmas cake?

Again, this is a personal preference. I have only used brandy in mine; others swear by rum, sherry, or whiskey.  You can glaze your fruit cake fresh from the oven with your alcohol of choice and continue to use the same alcohol to “feed” the cake.

How should I decorate my Christmas cake?

Up to you! You can ice with traditional almond fondant, then white fondant, as I did when I was a kid and I loved it! You can leave this one as is or with a dusting of icing sugar. Another lovely way to serve is with almonds and glazed cherries placed in a pattern on the top of the cake before baking.

How long does Christmas cake keep?

It depends on how you store it and how it is made. It can keep if stored well at room temperature for a good 6 months; however, I would advise that you store it in the fridge. If you wish to store it for longer than this before eating it, then I recommend freezing it as suggested above. How long it keeps depends on how it was made, the moistness of the fruit used, and the conditions in which it is stored. If in doubt, store it in the fridge in a well-sealed container.

It is as easy as that! A little patience with the cooling times is needed, but once you have tried this one, I am sure it will become a favourite.

How do you decorate your Christmas cakes?

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out this recipe and others on my blog. If you are not already, be sure to follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn for more delicious recipes, and you can register your email in the subscription box below to receive all my recipes as I publish them.

Happy Baking!

Shamla

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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