Christmas Cake Food

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine cherries, citrus peel, raisins, currants, dates, and almonds. Stir in brandy; let stand 2 hours, or overnight. Dredge soaked fruit with 1/2 cup flour.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease an 8x8x3 inch fruit cake pan, line with parchment paper, and grease again. In a small bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, baking soda, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream butter until light. Gradually blend in brown sugar and eggs. Mix together molasses and apple juice. Beat into butter mixture alternately with flour mixture, making 4 dry and 3 liquid additions. Fold in floured fruit. Turn batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. Remove from pan, and lift off paper. Cool cake completely, then wrap loosely in waxed paper. Store in an airtight container.

MAKE & MATURE CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Put 1kg mixed dried fruit, the zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon, 150ml brandy or other alcohol, 250g softened butter and 200g light, soft brown sugar in a large pan set over a medium heat.
• Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Tip the fruit mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep 20cm cake tin with a double layer of baking parchment, then wrap a double layer of newspaper around the outside - tie with string to secure.
• Add 175g plain flour, 100g ground almonds, ½ tsp baking powder, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves, 100g flaked almonds, 4 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour.
• Tip into your prepared tin, level the top with a spatula and bake in the centre of the oven for 2 hrs.
• Remove the cake from the oven, poke holes in it with a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of your chosen alcohol. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
• To store, peel off the baking parchment, then wrap well in cling film. Feed the cake with 1-2 tbsp alcohol every fortnight, until you ice it.
• Don't feed the cake for the final week to give the surface a chance to dry before icing.

COCONUT ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in the lower third of oven. Sift together flour and 3/4 cup sugar 4 times.
• Beat egg whites and warm water with a mixer on low speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Add cream of tartar, vanilla, salt, and coconut extract. Raise speed to medium, and beat until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. With machine running, add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Raise speed to high, and beat until peaks are stiff and glossy, but not dry, about 2 minutes.
• Working in 3 batches, sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture, gently folding in each addition with a rubber spatula, being careful not to deflate egg whites.
• Slowly pour batter into a 10-inch angel food cake pan. Gently run a knife through center of batter to release any air bubbles, and smooth using an offset spatula. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Invert pan onto a wire rack. Let cake cool in pan, about 1 hour. Carefully run a knife around sides of cake to loosen, and turn out onto a large plate or cake stand.
• Pour coconut glaze onto cake, and spread evenly using an offset spatula to cover completely. Gently press coconut onto cake. Let stand until set, about 1 hour. Garnish with lollipops.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest. Add the eggs 1 at a time, and incorporate well. Combine bread crumbs, flour, all the spices, baking powder, and salt. Combine rum and port. Add flour mixture alternately with rum/port mixture into the batter. Fold in the chopped marinated fruit.
• Prepare 1 (9-inch) cake pan or 2 spring form pans by lining bottom and sides with parchment paper. Fill the pan 3/4 of the way and bake until a skewer comes out of the center of the cake clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
• Put raisins, prunes, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla beans in a glass jar and cover with mixture of equal parts Jamaican white rum, Jamaican spiced rum, and Port. Cover with a tight fitting lid, label, and date the jar. Put in a cool, dry cupboard. From time to time, check the fruits to see if more liquor is needed, as the fruits will plump and soak up the liquid.
• Keep the fruit covered in liquor. It is best to allow the fruit to marinate for at least 1 month for best flavor.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Place both raisins, currants, dates and almonds in a large bowl. Add the brandy, mix to combine and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to soak in a cool dark place overnight, mixing occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 140°C (275°F). Line a 20cm (8-inch) square cake tin with 2 layers of non-stick baking paper. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed for 8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside.
• Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice to the soaked fruit and mix well, ensuring the fruit is evenly coated with flour. Add the butter mixture and stir until well combined. Spoon into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 2 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
• Spoon over the extra brandy while the cake is still warm. Allow to cool completely in the tin, before turning out onto a cake stand or plate to serve.
• Keep this cake in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Might as well do the boring stuff first. Grease and line an 8-inch (~20cm) square cake tin.
• Half, wash and flour the cherries.
• Sift the flour, salt, browning and spices together into one bowl.
• Cream the sugar and butter together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Add an egg and about quarter of the flour mixture and beat until just mixed. Repeat until you have no more eggs or flour left.
• Stir in the fruit and cherries. You may make a wish at this point, if you want - although you can't tell anyone what it is if you want it to come true! It often helps if there's someone big and strong in the house in time to do the final stir as the mixture is very thick and heavy.
• Put the mixture in the prepared cake tin, making sure that a large hollow is left in the centre to make up for the cake rising when it's cooked.
• Cook on gas mark 1 (140°C, 280°F) for 4 1/2 hours (yes, you did read that right, although check that it's cooked by sticking a knife in it from about 4 hrs onwards) If the cake is cooked, the knife will come out clean.
• Leave the cake to cool before taking it out of the tin or trying to remove the stuck bits of greaseproof paper. A large corner of my 21st birthday cake (made to the same recipe) was held together with wooden toothpicks because it'd been taken out of the tin too soon!
• When cold, wrap in greaseproof paper and place in an airtight tin.
• A month to 6 weeks before Christmas, start dosing the cake with alcohol by making holes with a skewer and dribbling teaspoons of alcohol into the holes. Repeat at least once a week and make sure you dose both sides of the cake over the month. It is up to you how much alcohol you wan to feed your cake. Re-wrap the cake after dosing.
• About a week to 10 days before Christmas, marzipan the cake (using apricot jam as the glue) and leave it out (covered by a clean teatowel) for a few days to dry out.
• About 3 or 4 days before Christmas, Ice the cake and leave out until the icing is completely solid.