recipe for a christmas cake?

Question

Does anyone have a recipe for a christmas cake. Im going to try baking one this year for the first time.

Answer 1

Christmas cake
Serves 8



Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cooking time over 2 hours







Ingredients
225g/8oz plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g/7oz butter
200g/7oz dark brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
1 tbsp marmalade
1/4tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten
800g/1 3/4 lb mixed dried fruits
100g/3 1/2 oz chopped mixed peel
150g/5oz glace cherries, halved
100g/3 1/2 oz blanched almonds, chopped
brandy

To Decorate the Cake:
200g/7oz marzipan
1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
600g/1lb 5oz icing sugar, sieved
11/2tsp liquid glycerine - optional
1 tbsp lemon juice



Method
1. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2. Grease a 20cm/8inch round or an 18cm/7inch square cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
2. Sieve the flour, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon into a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and then mix in the sugar, treacle, marmalade and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
4. Mix the eggs a little at a time into the mixture adding a tablespoon of flour mixture with the last amount.
5. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until well mixed and then mix in the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries and the almonds.
6. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
7. Bake in the oven for 3 hours and then test with a skewer. If not ready bake for up to another hour testing every 20 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
9. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
10. Once cool, make a few holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 3-4 tbspof brandy. Let the brandy soak into the cake.
11. Store the cake wrapped in foil and in an airtight tin or plastic container, holes side up.
12. OPTIONAL: For a rich and moist cake, spoon over a few tablespoons of brandy every week until you are ready to ice and decorate your cake.

To Decorate the Cake:
1. Place the cake on a foil board or cake plate.
2. Dust your hands and the work surface with a little icing sugar and knead the marzipan until soft.
3. Roll out half the marzipan to fit the top of the cake and roll out the rest in strips to fit around the sides of the cake.
4. Brush the cake all over with the warmed apricot jam and then place the marzipan on top and around the cake.
5. Cover the cake with a clean tea towel and then leave in a cool place for at least one day.
6. To make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites adding the sugar at intervals. Beat well until the icing reaches soft peaks. Add the glycerine if using and the lemon juice.
7. Spread icing all over cake either flat iced using a clean ruler or by forming soft peaks. Decorate with Christmas ornaments.

Answer 2

Red Velvet Cake

I prefer this red velvet cake recipe above all I've tried because I always have self-rising flour on hand. Oil makes the layers moist, and butter and cream cheese with powdered sugar and chopped pecans are the makings of a mighty fine frosting.


2½ cups self-rising flour
1 cup buttermilk
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup red food color
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with mixer until well blended. Pour batter equally into three well- greased or sprayed cake pans. Bake 20 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Frosting
1/3 pound butter softened
1 8-ounce and 1 3-ounce package cream cheese softened
1 pound box powdered sugar
2 cups chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until fluffy. Add chopped pecans. Frost between layers, top and side of cake.

Great looking cake, that tastes even better, for Christmas or Valentine's Day.

Answer 3

1/2 pound unsalted butter
1/2 pound light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
6 eggs
6 ounces fresh bread crumbs
6 ounces flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup rum
1 pint Port
4 cups mixed marinated fruit, recipe follows, squeezed and finely chopped

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.

Mixed Marinated Fruit:
1 pound black raisins
1 pound golden raisins
1 pound prunes, cut in quarters or eighths, depending on size
4 cinnamon sticks
2 vanilla beans, split
Jamaican white rum
Jamaican spiced rum
Port

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.

Answer 4

I don't have the recipe to hand, but I use the one in Gary Rhodes' book New British Classics. It works fantastically well - and fills the house with a wonderful smell for hours on end!

It's worth making around now and 'feeding' with brandy every few days up until Christmas. And it will honestly be better than any cake you can buy!

Answer 5

Try the Ice Box Cake...very pretty plate presentation, very delicious and best of all it's NO BAKE!!!
(A Christmas tradition in my family!)

3 cups heavy cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 (9-ounce) packages chocolate wafer cookies
Unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.

On a flat serving plate, arrange 7 cookies side by side in a circle, keeping 1 cookie in the center.

Spread with 1/2 cup whipped cream, making a 7-inch circle. Repeat with remaining cookies and cream, making 11 layers of cookies and ending with a layer of cream (there will be a few cookies left over). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, dust top lightly with cocoa powder.

Answer 6

This cake is a rich, dark, moist fruit cake, very flavorful at Christmas. Try icing with almond paste for a more festive touch. This recipe is started in October or November so as to let it mellow before the holidays. Good luck!

2 (8 ounce) containers candied cherries
1 (8 ounce) container candied mixed citrus peel
2 cups raisins
1 cup dried currants
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
2 (2.25 ounce) packages blanched slivered almonds
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
6 eggs
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup apple juice

DIRECTIONS
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.

NOTE: this is for an 8" square cake if you use a round pan you must use a 9" one

Answer 7

Delia Smiths - brilliant! Used it for years now!

Answer 8

i really wouldnt bother..there are so many ingredients it works out more expensive then buying a ncie luxury one and it may not even taste as good. make some gingerbread cookies instead and buy a cake.

Answer 9

That no funny.