Classic Christmas Cake Food

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.

TRADITIONAL BRITISH CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 300 F/150 C/Gas 2.

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Add the dried fruits to a large bowl.
• Pour the wine and add the orange zest.
• Cover and keep aside for 8 hours or overnight.
• Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add the beaten eggs and honey.
• Mix until combined.
• Add the flour, clove powder and mixed spices.
• Add the soaked fruits and nuts.
• Mix well.
• Transfer to a greased cake tin lined with parchment paper.
• Place the tin into a preheated oven at 150C and bake for 2 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove and cool.
• Cut into slices and serve.
• Stays good for a few days if stored in an airtight container.

MARY BERRY'S CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake, place all the dried fruit, including the cherries, into a large mixing bowl, pour over the brandy and stir in the orange zest. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for three days, stirring daily.
• Grease and line a 23cm/9in deep, round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1.
• Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds into a very large bowl and beat well (preferably with an electric free-standing mixer). Add the flour and ground spice and mix thoroughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 4-4½ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown. Check after two hours, and if the cake is a perfect colour, cover with foil. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
• When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra brandy. Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil and store in a cool place for up to three months, feeding at intervals with more brandy. (Don't remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.)
• The week before you want to serve, begin covering the cake.
• For the covering, stand the cake upside down, flat side uppermost, on a cake board which is 5cm/2in larger than the size of the cake.
• Brush the sides and the top of the cake with the warm apricot jam.
• Liberally dust a work surface with icing sugar and then roll out the marzipan to about 5cm/2in larger than the surface of the cake. Keep moving the marzipan as you roll, checking that it is not sticking to the work surface. Dust the work surface with more icing sugar as necessary.
• Carefully lift the marzipan over the cake using a rolling pin. Gently level and smooth the top of the paste with the rolling pin, then ease the marzipan down the sides of the cake, smoothing it at the same time. If you are careful, you should be able to cover the cake with no excess marzipan to trim but, if necessary, neatly trim excess marzipan from the base of the cake with a small sharp knife. Cover the cake loosely with baking parchment and leave for a few days to dry out before adding the royal icing.
• For the royal icing, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they become frothy. Mix in the sifted icing sugar a tablespoonful at a time. You can do this with a hand-held electric whisk, but keep the speed low.
• Stir in the lemon juice and glycerine and beat the icing until it is very stiff and white and stands up in peaks.
• Cover the surface of the icing tightly with clingfilm and keep in a cool place until needed.
• To ice the cake, place all the icing onto the top of the cake. Spread evenly over the top and sides of the cake with a palette knife. For a snow-peak effect, use a smaller palette knife to rough up the icing.
• Leave the cake loosely covered overnight for the icing to harden a little, then wrap or store in an airtight container in a cool place until needed.

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE: HOW TO MAKE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS AT HOME | HOMEMADE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE - TIMES FOOD

Steps:

• For making this yummy cake recipe, first, chop all the dry fruits. Then, take a large bowl and place them in a large bowl. Then, stir in the grated orange zest and juice, pour ice wine over them. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 150°C, gas mark 2. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23 cm-round or 20 cm-square cake tin with baking parchment so it stands 5 cm above the top. Use string to tie a double thickness of baking parchment around the outside of the tin. This will help prevent the cake from drying out during cooking.
• Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg, a little at a time. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of flour with the last few additions of the egg.
• Now, add all-purpose flour with clove powder and mixed spices, and finally, add in the soaked dry fruits. Mix them well. Stir well to prepare the cake batter and make sure that no lumps are remaining.
• Take a baking tin lined with parchment paper and grease it with a little butter, then transfer the mixture in it.
• Stand the tin on a tray and bake for 3-4 hours until cooked through, covering the top of the cake with foil if it starts to over-brown. To check that the cake is cooked, insert a skewer into its centre - if the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked.
• When the cake is baked, remove the tray and cool down. You can store this cake for a few days in an airtight container. When you want to serve, cut thick slices and serve.

CHRISTMAS TREE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and unsalted butter to a large bowl and cream together using a hand or stand mixer.
• Beat in the vanilla, eggs, sour cream and buttermilk.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa, instant coffee, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just to combine.
• Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
• In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla frosting and green food coloring. Start with about 5 drops of green food coloring, stir, and see if you like the shade or if you want to add a few more drops to get a deeper green color.
• Spoon the colored frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Start by piping a center star and then work your way around the top of the cupcake, moving slowly in as you go, to form a triangular shape, like a tree.
• Top with your favorite holiday sprinkles and dust with the confectioner's sugar for a snowy effect.
• Serve and enjoy!

EASY CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the dried fruit, zest, butter, sugar and alcohol in a large pan
• Stir well over a medium heat until combined well and boiling.
• Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes or so.
• Decant the mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool. Leave this for around an hour to cool.
• While the mixture cools preheat the oven to 150°C or gas mark 2.
• Line a 20cm cake tin using greaseproof paper, and surround the outside of the tin with two layers of newspaper. You can secure this with string.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the fruit mixture in the bowl. Stir all the remaining ingredients in, making sure there are no lumps of flour.
• Place in the prepared tin.
• Use a spatula or spoon to level the mixture off so that is fills the space and is level.
• Place the cake mix in the oven and cook for 2 hours.
• Remove the cake from the oven and poke a few holes in the top. Be careful as steam may come out.
• Drizzle with a good splash of alcohol and set to one side.
• After it has cooled, peel off the surrounding paper and wrap the cake in cling film. This can keep for months, but we'd recommend topping it up with alcohol every fortnight or so.

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Three-in-one basic fruit mix. Combine ingredients in large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dark place for a month (or longer, if desired) before using. Stir mixture every two or three days
• Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Line base and side of a deep 22cm-round cake pan (or deep 19cm-square cake pan) with two layers of brown paper and two layers of baking paper, extending paper 5cm over the side(s) of pan.
• Beat butter, sugar and marmalade in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition.
• Transfer butter mixture to large bowl, stir in combined sifted flours and spices, and basic fruit mix.
• Spoon mixture into pan, smooth top. Decorate with nuts, if desired. Bake about 3-3½ hours.
• Brush top of hot cake with brandy. Cover hot cake tightly with foil, cool in pan.
• When cooled, turn cake out, leave lining paper intact. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
• Close to serving, brush top of cake with extra marmalade, if desired.

CHRISTMAS CAKE (1)

Steps:

• In a large ceramic bowl, combine fruit and brandy. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight.
• Preheat oven to very slow, 120°C. Line base and sides of a 23cm square cake pan with 2 layers of brown paper and baking paper, allowing it to come 2.5cm above the rim of pan.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in marmalade and vanilla. Transfer to a very large bowl.
• Fold half fruit and half flour into creamed mixture. Fold in remaining fruit and flour. Pour carefully into pan, smoothing top.
• Bake for 2 1/2-3 hours, until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean and dry. Brush with extra brandy. Cool completely in pan, covered with a layer of foil and a clean tea towel.
• DECORATION: Brush top and sides of cake with sugar syrup. Using a rolling pin, roll icing out between two sheets of baking paper to a 35cm square. Lift icing onto rolling pin and drape over cake. Gently smooth over edges with cornfloured hands. Trim edges, if required. Using star-shaped cookie cutters as a guide, brush icing inside cutters with extra sugar syrup. Sprinkle cachous over syrup. Carefully lift off cutter shapes. Wrap ribbon around base of cake and secure with a pin or double-sided tape.

MARY BERRY'S CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Put all the dried fruit in a container, pour over the sherry and stir in the orange zest. Cover with a lid, and leave to soak for 3 days, stirring daily. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) deep round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 140C, 120C fan, gas 1.
• Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds into a very large bowl and beat well. Add the flours and mixed spice and mix thoroughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 4-4½ hours or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown. Check after 2 hours, and, if the cake is a perfect colour, cover with foil. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
• When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra sherry. Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil and store in a cool place for up to 3 months, feeding at intervals with more sherry. Don't remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.
• When you're ready to decorate the cake warm the apricot jam in a small saucepan or briefly in the microwave. Roll the almond paste to a thin circle that is bigger than your cake and will allow the sides to be covered. Alternatively, some people prefer a thicker disc of almond paste that sits on top of the cake, in this instance roll it to approximately 23cm diameter.
• Brush the cake all over with the warm jam then cover the with almond paste and use a cake smoother to make the paste flush with the cake. Spread the cake with royal icing using a small palette knife. You can opt for a completely smooth texture, or use the palette knife to flick the icing upwards and create peaks.
• Alternatively, you can use the back of a spoon to create texture by pushing it against the icing and pulling away from the cake. Leave to set, then dust with icing sugar and top with your chosen cake topper or decoration.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan oven) mark 3. Grease and line a 20.5cm (8in) loose-based cake tin with greaseproof paper. Soak raisins in a bowl with the rum and set aside.
• Put 175g (6oz) butter into a bowl. Using an electric hand whisk, beat in sugar, one large spoonful at a time, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, then add the ground almonds and mix well. Stir in the soaked raisins. If the mixture looks curdled, leave for 5min to allow the almonds to swell, then stir again.
• Fold in the flour and orange zest with a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 50min-1hr or until a metal skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave cake to cool in the tin for 10min, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Carefully turn cake upside down, put on a serving plate and remove greaseproof paper.
• To decorate the cake, heat the jam in a pan for 2-3min, sieve into a bowl, then brush over the top and side of the cake. Roll the icing out to a 35.5cm (14in) circle, lift it onto the cake and smooth over top and side. Cut away extra icing.
• Before serving, sift 2tbsp icing sugar into a bowl and add a knifepoint of gold lustre. Mix together, then tip into a fine sieve or tea strainer and dust over the top of the cake.
• Pull the leaves back from the physalis to reveal the fruit. Put the caster sugar in a bowl and dip in the physalis - the sugar will cling to the sticky surface. Arrange on top of the cake. Finish by tying a gold ribbon around the cake. Like this? You'll love... How to make a Christmas cake Chocolate cherry Christmas cake The best Christmas cakes Best mince pies Easy gingerbread recipe The best Christmas cake recipes

THE ULTIMATE CLASSIC FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Place raisins in a bowl. Add enough grand Marnier/Cointreau to cover them. Cover bowl and leave for 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 150°C.
• In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar.
• Add the eggs one at a time. If mixture looks a bit like splitting, add a little flour.
• Add sifted flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and Grand Marnier. Mix together.
• Gently fold in soaked raisins, dried chopped apricots, sultanas, chopped peel, cherries, walnuts and hazelnuts.
• Spoon the cake mix into 2 greased and lined 22cm spring form tins.
• Bake cakes for 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours.
• Remove and cool on wire rack. Once cool spray with more alcohol and wrap in cling film. Keep cakes in cool dry place until you ice/decorate them.
• ICING: Gently heat jam until spreadable. Spread over top and edges of cake.
• Roll out marzipan very thinly to the circumference of cake, also a strip around width of cake.
• Place marzipan on cake-gently pinch strip around top and side to stick them together. Repeat this with the icing. Mix together icing sugar, egg white and a few drops of food colouring into a smooth paste. Put into icing bag and decorate as desired.